7 


E.   W.    HULBURD 


The  Life  of 


Little  Justin  Hulburd 

Medium,  A&or  and  Poet 

Who  was  during  forty  years  one 
of  the  greatest  attractions  upon 
the  dramatic  stage,  and  who 
served  his  adopted  country  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  as  President 
Lincoln's  private  spy.  Given 
through  his  mediumship  by 
prominent  people  of  that  time 
who  knew  him  intimately,  rela- 
ting many  exciting  experiences. 

Compiled  by  his  cousin 

E.  W.   HULBURD 


Volume   II 


Descanso,  Cal. 
Copyrighted,  1909,  by  E.  W.  Hulburd 


Index  to  Volume  II 


Frontispiece. 

Preface 

Lola  Montez 

General  John  H.  Morgan 

Violet  Campbell 

Johann  of  Arc 

Amanda  Hulburcl  to  Her  Children 

General  George  Warren 

Mrs.  Patterson  Sheldon 

Sada — The  Lone  One    - 

Ida 

A  Man's  Conscience 

Doctor  II.  \Y.  Gould 

Thomas  Paine 

Mary  C.  Morse 

Julia  Hawthorne 

Neil  Bryant 

Charles  Leicester 

Matilda  Herron 

Laura  Keene 

Richard  Bishop  Buckley 

George  Henry  Clifford 

Richard  M.  Hooley    - 

Ada  Isaacs  Menken 

David  Wambold 

Charles  Foster 

Alice  Cary 

Phoebe    Cary 

Frances  E.  \YilIard 

Harriet   Hosmer  Chamberlain 

General  Robert  F.  Lee 


Page 

7 

11 

19 

31 

46 

55 

57 

133 

145 

159 

166 

168 

175 

205 

208 

228 

234 

246 

249 

252 

255 

258 

260 

264 

268 

272 

2S7 

204 

298 

307 


INDEX 

Page 

Harry  Symmes      -  -     325 
Helen  Howard 

Charles  Reed  -     338 

William  Emerson      -  345 

Jane  Davenport  Landers       -  -     375 

Major  H.  J.  Gleason  395 

Charles  R.  Thorne,  Jr.  -  403 

Mary  Gannon  (Estelle)      -  420 

Emma  Hardinge  Brittan        -  -     456 

Olivia  Stephens  460 

Mary  C.  Morse      -  -     473 

William  Denton  477 

Miscellany     -  479 


Lola  Montez 

Chapter  I 


\Yednesday,  August  7,  1901. 

I  greet  you,  sir,  with  the  friendship  of  an  old  friend.  Any 
one  that  is  dear  to  the  little  medium  is  also  dear  to  me,  for  I 
loved  that  little  creature  very  much,  and  when  I  saw  him  today 
lying  in  the  hammock  with  an  old  body  and  white  hair  and 
some  wrinkles  on  his  face  from  age,  the  contrast  is  a  great  one 
— today  and  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  him.  As  I  watched  him 
lying  in  the  hammock  under  your  beautiful  oak  trees  it  did 
not  seem  possible  that  he  could  lie  in  that  hammock  so  long, 
for  at  least  the  space  was  two  hours.  I  must  say  I  look  upon 
it  as  a  miracle,  as  his  little  body  was  always  constantly  on  the 
move  in  days  long  ago.  Allow  me  to  tell  you,  sir,  that  your 
beautiful,  balmy  climate  here  in  your  mountain  retreat  has  been 
the  medicine  that  has  kept  him  in  his  body. 

When  I  look  at  your  beautiful  live  oaks  and  feel  the  life 
giving  property  that  lies  within  their  branches.  I  do  not  won- 
der that  people  live  to  such  an  old  age  here  in  your  mountain 
dell,  for  every  whisper  on  the  breeze  speaks  to  me  of  health 
and  longevity.  I  wish  I  could  carry  some  of  your  beautiful 
breezes  to  fan  the  heat  stricken  people  of  New  York  City;  to 
cool  and  soothe  their  aching  temples  and  give  them  at  least  a 
few  nights'  good  sleep.  May  God  and  the  angels  have  mercy 
on  those  poor  people  that  are  huddled  together  like  pigs  in  a 
pen.  (  )h.  good  sir,  when  T  look  back  and  think  what  New  York- 
was  over  fiftv  vears  ago  and  what  it  is  todav.  it  seems  almost 
impossible  that  so  many  human  lives  could  be  collected  on  an 
island  of  that  size.  I  am  glad  that  Little  Justin  has  not  to 
endure  that  terrible  heat  and  stench  that  emits  from  their  vile 
gutters  and  their  loathsome  beer  dens,  giving  forth  a  terrible 
stench  to  the  nostrils  of  respectable  people.  The  beautiful  at- 


12  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

mosphere  that  you  enjoy  here  in  your  mountain  dell,  no  price 
of  gold  could  pay  for.  All  the  wealth  that  was  ever  taken  out 
of  mines  is  not  equal  to  your  balmy  climate.  People  living  in 
material  bodies,  if  they  could  only  realize  and  understand  it, 
require  less  food  to  sustain  bodily  strength  here  in  the  moun- 
tains than  they  do  along  the  coast.  If  people  would  only  get 
the  courage  to  thoroughly  test  it,  they  would  find  there  was  a 
realization  in  what  I  say.  People  eat  too  much  for  good  health. 
They  clog  up  all  the  fluid  channels  of  the  body,  the  muscles  do 
not  act  propetly.  because  they  are  overheated  from  too  much 
meat  eating  and  fatty  substance  that  they  take  into  their 
^omachs.  The  sinews,  cords  and  ligaments  and  nerve  fibers 
in  the  human  anatomy  are  eaten  up  and  destroyed  by  over- 
eating the  flesh  of  animals,  drinking  beer  and  all  other  ardent 
spirits  that  they  swill  down  that  even  hogs  would  refuse.  They 
think  that  hogs  will  partake  of  food  too  low  and  degraded  for 
the  human  stomach,  but  a  hog  could  not  eat  or  drink  the  filthy 
material  that  human  stomachs  take  in,  in  the  way  of  beer  and 
ale  and  porter  and  other  life-destroying  spirits.  My  dear  friend, 
if  you  could  only  see  the  human  stomach  of  a  beer  guzzler  an- 
alyzed, it  would  discourage  you  with  the  manhood  of  the  hu- 
man race.  As  long  as  the  human  race  will  indulge  in  such 
filthy  slops  you  cannot  wonder  there  are  so  few  bright  minds 
to  tell  of  the  progressive  ideas  and  the  scientific  conditions  of 
heavenly  bodies  floating  in  space.  "When  you  are  calm  and  ly- 
ing in  your  bed,  thank  the  great  ruler  of  the  universe  that  you 
live  here  in  nature's  dell. 

Miss  Charlotte  Cushman.  known  to  the  world  as  "Queen 
of  Tragedy"  asked  me  by  special  request  to  accompany  her 
here  today  and  add  my  mite  to  the  history  of  the  life  line  of  the 
little  medium.  When  I  first  saw  the  little  medium  it  was  about 
sixty  years  ago  while  I  was  playing  a  star  engagement  at  the 
old  Broadway  theatre  on  Broadway,  near  Pearl  Street.  We 
were  going  to  produce  a  musical  piece  called  the  "Fairy  of  the 
Ferns."  The  managers  of  the  theatre  asked  me  to  remain  with 
them  to  play  the  Queen  in  their  new  piece.  I  did  so.  as  the  ar- 
rangement the}'  made  with  me  was  quite  agreeable  in  a  finan- 
cial way.  and  also  from  a  point  of  art.  It  was  their  desire  to 
get  someone  to  play  a  sprite  to  tease  the  fairies  in  their  beau- 


LOLA  MONTEZ  13 

tiful  flowery  dell  and  to  constantly  keep  flying  in  and  out 
among  the  fairies.  The  first  morning  that  rehearsal  was  called 
for  the  new  piece  Mrs.  Bradshaw,  who  was  the  old  lady  of  the 
company — not  only  a  lady  by  name,  but  a  lady  by  nature — 
walked  on  the  stage  holding  a  child  by  the  hand  whom  I  think 
was  one  of  the  prettiest  children  I  ever  saw.  I  said,  "Mrs.  Urad- 
shaw,  to  whom  does  that  beautiful  child  belong?"  He  had 
long,  curly  hair,  white  skin  and  red  cheeks,  teeth  as  beautiful 
as  any  pearl  you  ever  saw,  and  oh,  such  eyes.  Great,  large, 
dark  blue  eyes,  and  when  they  looked  at  you  they  looked  like 
the  eyes  of  a  fawn,  asking  your  love  and  protection.  Mrs. 
Bradshaw  said.  "Lola,  this  little  one  is  to  play  the  sprite  in 
the  new  piece."  I  said,  "Jeannette,  it  is  only  a  baby  and  should 
be  with  its  mother."  She  said,  "Lola,  it  is  older  than  you 
think."  I  then  clasped  the  child  to  my  breast,  kissed  and  hug- 
ged it,  thinking  of  my  own  little  boy,  whom  I  never  was  to  see 
again.  I  said  to  the  Little  One,  ''How  old  are  you,  dear?"  He 
said,  "Lady,  I  am  twelve  years,  going  on  thirteen."  I  shall 
never  forget  that  musical  voice  as  he  pronounced  those  words. 
I  said,  "But  my  little  baby,  you  look  too  small  for  that  age." 
He  said,  "They  brought  me  from  Scotland,  and  that's  what 
makes  it."  \Ye  all  commenced  to  laugh.  I  then  said,  "Your 
nationality  is  Scottish."  lie  said.  "I  never  knew  him  ;  he  didn't 
live  at  our  place.  Grandpa  was  the  biggest  man  there,  and  if 
women  talked  too  much  he  made  them  shut  up,"  which  got  us 
all  to  laughing. 

Mrs.  Bradshaw  then  said  to  Mr.  Marshall,  the  stage  man- 
ager. "The  Little  One  is  quite  smart  and  quite  agile;  he  can 
jump  around  as  nimble  as  a  cat."  Mr.  Marshall  said,  "I  have 
heard  of  this  Little  One  before."  The  Little  One  spoke  up  and 
said,  "1  can  do  more  with  men  than  women."  lie  walked  up 
to  Mr.  Marshall,  laying  both  little  hands  in  his  large  palms. 
He  looked  up  and  smiled  in  his  face,  saying,  "You  will  have 
me.  won't  you?  Me  and  Charlotte  Cushman  starred  it  one 
time  at  the  Chamber  Street  theatre."  which  caused  a  ripple  of 
laughter.  Mr.  Marshall  said,  "Well,  we  will  see  what  you  can 
do  in  the  shape  of  a  sprite."  Mr.  Marshall  was  sitting  down  on 
a  chair,  with  his  manuscript  lying  on  a  table  that  stood  by  his 
side.  Mr.  Marshall  said  to  the  Little  One,  "Can  you  jump 


14  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

pretty  high?"  I  don't  believe  you  could  have  counted  two 
when  the  Little  One  sprang  into  the  air,  kicked  Mr.  Marshall's 
high  silk  hat,  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  off  and  brush- 
ing every  once  in  a  while  with  a  silk  handkerchief.  The  Little 
One  landed  astride  of  Mr.  Marshall's  neck  with  his  little  feet 
over  each  of  Mr.  Marshall's  shoulders.  The  company  burst 
out  into  such  a  roar  of  laughter  that  it  took  us  over  ten  min- 
utes to  quiet  down.  The  first  words  I  heard  after  we  had  qui- 
eted down  was  Mr.  Marshall  saying  to  the  Little  One,  "You 
are  engaged."  at  the  same  dragging  him  down  off  his  should- 
ers, and  when  he  had  stood  him  on  the  stage,  he  addressed  me, 
saying,  "Miss  Montez,  can  it  be  possible  that  such  an  imp  of 
the  devil  can  live  in  such  a  beautiful  body?  By  God!  I  am 
going  to  own  that  young  one  if  I  can,  for  I  really  believe  he  is 
a  flash  of  lightning.  You  are  all  here  safe,  are  you?"  which 
sent  the  company  off  into  another  roar  of  laughter.  When  we 
had  quieted  down  again  he  said,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  now 
we  will  commence  rehearsal."  Turning  around  to  the  Little 
One  he  said,  "You  get  up  and  sit  on  the  table  where  I  can  see 
you.''  Mr.  Marshall  turned  around  and  said  to  Mrs.  Brad- 
shaw  and  myself.  "I  don't  think  we  will  need  any  artificial 
brimstone  in  this  piece  while  his  young  highness  is  around." 
which  made  us  all  laugh  again. 

AYe  commenced  rehearsal  then  and  in  the  second  act  where 
the  great  fairy  scene  is,  I  am  drawn  on  in  a  beautiful  chariot 
all  decorated  with  flowers :  right  back  of  my  chariot  stands  a 
great,  beautiful  tree,  and  one  of  the  boughs  bends  towards  my 
chariot,  with  the  sprite  sitting  upon  the  bough.  Mr.  Conway, 
a  very  handsome  leading  man,  addressed  Mr.  Marshall,  saying, 
"George,  ain't  you  afraid  that  that  Little  One  is  too  small  to 
hold  on  to  that  bough  until  he  comes  down  and  rests  on  the 
chariot?"  Mr.  Marshall  said,  "Wells,  old  boy,  let  your  mind 
rest  easy  on  that  score,  that  little  kid  sitting  on  the  table  there, 
I  would  l>e  willing  to  wager  a  whole  year  s  salary,  would  sit 
on  top  of  his  Satanic  majesty's  crown,  if  they  would  only  give 
him  a  fair  show;  not  all  the  fires  of  brimstone  in  hell,  or  the 
greatest  storm  at  sea  that  old  Xeptune  could  get  up:  God  him- 
selt  can  open  up  all  his  trap  doors  and  let  the  wind  out  with 
full  force:  the  weather  clerk  can  let  down  all  the  hailstorms 


LOLA  MONTEZ  15 

and  rain  he  has  a  mind  to,  and  when  the  storm  has  lulled  to 
rest,  you  will  find  that  little  curse  there  sitting  where  he  was 
before  the  commotion,  which  I  can  prove  by  the  back  of  my 
neck."  When  he  had  said  this  the  company  went  off  into  an- 
other boisterous  laugh,  and  when  we  had  quieted  down  the 
Little  One  said,  "G.  Scott!  I  don't  think  you  are  much  of  act- 
ors, the  way  you  laugh  so  much ;  if  old  Charlotte  was  here 
she'd  shut  you  up  mighty  quick.  She  don't  stand  no  Shenane- 
gan,  you  can  bet."  \Ye  laughed  and  then  went  on  with  re- 
hearsal. Mr.  Wells  said,  "Xow,  baby.  I  will  carry  you  up  the 
ladder  and  place  you  on  the  bough."  The  Little  One  said, 
"Not  much;  1  want  to  know  how  much  1  am  going  to  get  first." 
Mr.  Marshall  said,  "How  much  do  you  get  at  the  Chatham?" 
He  said,  "Six  dollars  a  week,  but  I  want  more  for  coming  here 
and  letting  you  have  my  name."  which  made  us  laugh  again. 
Mr.  Marshall  said,  "How  much  do  you  want,  Little  One?"  The 
Little  One  said,  "I  want  ten  dollars  a  week,  for  I  don't  think 
you  are  very  good  actors  here."  Mr.  Marshall  said,  "Ten  dol- 
lars it  shall  be."  I  believe  he  would  have  got  twenty  just  then 
if  he  had  only  asked  the  old  gentleman  for  it.  Well,  after  a 
week's  rehearsal  the  piece  was  produced  and  ran  three  months. 
The  Little  One  sitting  on  the  bough  and  holding  on  tight  until 
the  bough  had  reached  my  chariot,  where  he  springs  from  the 
bough  in  front  of  my  chariot  and  sits  in  a  bed  of  roses,  whist- 
ling like  a  bird,  was  the  admiration  of  the  people.  Every  night 
when  the  curtain  fell  on  the  scene  it  was  a  struggle  between  Mr. 
Marshall  and  Mr.  Con  way,  the  leading  man.  which  would  grab 
up  the  Little  One  first,  to  hug  and  kiss  him.  I  generally  came 
in  last,  but  got  more  of  them,  which  made  it  last  longer. 

In  the  last  scene  of  the  piece,  which  was  a  beautiful  one, 
almost  beyond  description,  I  am  sitting  on  a  throne  with  all 
the  fairies  attending  me,  when  the  sun  commences  to  rise 
up  over  a  beautiful  hill  all  shimmering  with  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones.  Just  as  the  sun  rises  above  this  beautiful  hill, 
the  Little  One  was  discovered  sitting  in  the  sun,  like  cupid. 
with  his  bow  and  arrow.  You  could  hear  the  people  all  through 
the  audience  saying,  "Isn't  that  the  most  beautiful  thing  you 
ever  saw?"  A  bell  strikes  then,  cupid  tires  his  arrow,  which 
sticks  in  the  top  of  niv  crown,  and  the  curtain  goes  down  to 


16 

big  applause.  At  every  performance  Mr.  Marshall  carried  the 
Little  One  in  front  of  the  curtain  in  his  arms,  I  following  and 
several  of  the  principal  members  after  me.  We  commenced  to 
think  that  perhaps  old  Charlotte  and  he  did  star  it  at  some  time. 
After  the  piece  had  been  running  about  six  weeks  he  came 
to  my  dressing  room  one  evening,  looked  up  and  said  to  me, 
"Lola,  I  am  going  to  strike.  I  want  more  pay."  I  said,  "My 
little  dear,  you  get  ten  dollars  a  week,  and  that  is  a  large  sal- 
ary for  a  little  one  like  you."  He  looked  up  at  me  with  his 
large  blue  eyes,  saying,  "I  can  talk  as  big  as  you  can,  and  1 
am  going  to  have  more  money.  If  I  don't  get  it  I  will  break 
up  the  show.''  But  I  said,  "'Why,  my  dear,  there  are  lots  here 
in  the  theatre  that  don't  get  any  more  than  ten  dollars  a  week, 
and  I  had  to  work  hard  for  over  six  years  before  I  got  a  first- 
class  engagement."  He  said,  "Oh,  that's  different ;  you  are  a 
foreigner,  and  some  day  I  am  going  to  be  an  American  citizen, 
and  I  have  to  protect  my  rights."  I  said,  "Well,  you  and  Mr. 
Marshall  will  have  to  settle  it  between  you."  I  discovered  next 
morning  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Marshall  that  the  Little  One 
demanded  twenty  dollars  a  week  and  he  got  it.  as  he  had  to 
protect  his  rights,  being  one  of  America's  future  citizens. 

After  the  piece  was  over  I  made  my  mind  up  to  go  to  En- 
rope  and  travel  on  the  continent  for  several  years,  playing  star 
engagements  at  different  points.  He  accompanied  me  when  I 
went  to  get  my  passport.  When  we  returned  to  the  hotel  he 
gave  me  a  piece  of  advice.  He  said,  "Now,  Lola,  you've  been 
over  here  playing  in  America,  and  when  you  go  to  Europe,  if 
any  of  those  foreign  galoots  say  anything  to  you  that  you  don't 
like,  just  kick  them,"  putting  the  action  to  the  word.  He  kicked 
Mr.  Conway's  back  anatomy,  as  he  was  leaning  over  the  piano 
at  the  time.  He  turned  around  and  said,  "Puss,  what  did  I 
do  to  you?"  Puss  said,  "Nothing,  but  I  was  just  showing  how 
to  do  it.''  Mr.  Conway  said,  "Please  practice  on  someone  else 
the  next  time."  I  laughed  and  said  I  would  try  and  remember 
his  advice.  We  all  adjourned  to  the  dining  room  and  had  tea; 
I  do  not  mean  the  public  dining  room  of  the  hotel — I  had  my 
own  private  dining  room,  where  I  entertained  my  guests.  We 
all  parted,  they  all  wishing  me  and  my  mother-in-law  God- 
speed. 


LOLA  MONTEZ  17 

While  in  Europe  I  wedded  the  King  of  Barvaria,  of  which 
the  whole  world  learned.  Our  wedding  was  an  unhappy  one. 
After  traveling  through  Europe  I  returned  to  America.  When 
the  steamer  came  up  to  the  Xew  York  harbor  aud  moored  at 
her  dock,  I  was  looking  to  see  if  there  were  any  friends  to  wel- 
come poor  Lola  back  to  America,  the  land  of  her  adoption. 
While  I  was  looking  over  the  style  I  saw  someone  mounted  on 
a  man's  shoulders  waving  a  handkerchief  and  hollering  at  the 
same  time,  "Lola,  Lola.''  J  said,  "There  is  one  friend,  at  least, 
but  who  can  it  be  that  welcomes  the  unfortunate  Lola  back  to 
America.  My  mother-in-law  passed  out  of  her  body  while  we 
were  in  Europe. 

Xow,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  of  a  funny  little  thing  that  oc- 
curred here.  I  moved  toward  the  gankplank  as  I  saw  they  were 
preparing  to  place  it  between  the  steamer  and  the  deck.  As 
soon  as  the  gangplank  was  placed  securely,  there  were  three 
men  about  to  step  upon  the  plank,  when  two  of  the  men  that 
were  there  in  attendance  said,  "Gentlemen,  you  cannot  go  aboard 
yet.  We  are  not  ready  to  receive  anyone."  There  was  an  of- 
ficer connected  with  the  boat  who  said,  "Xo  one  can  come  aboard 
until  we  are  ready."  lie  stooped  down  to  look  at  something  in 
connection  with  the  railing  of  the  gangway.  While  he  was 
stooping  I  saw  a  little  figure  spring  on  to  his  back  and  from 
there  on  to  the  gangplank,  \\hen  the  officer  straightened  him- 
self up.  he  said.  "Jesus  Christ!  what  was  that  that  hit  me?" 
Then  the  other  two  men  stood  there  laughing  tit  to  kill  them- 
selves. In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  Puss  was  up  the 
gangway  and  in  my  arms.  I  laughed  so  much  1  could  not  find 
time  to  suv,  "I  low  are  you?"  but  dragged  him  into  the  saloon. 
We  sat  there  and  talked,  crving  and  laughing  for  over  an  hour 
and  when  we  (juieted  down  and  came  to  our  senses,  fuss  said, 
"Xow,  Lola,  get  vour  wraps  and  order  vour  trunks  to  be  sent 
to  the  hotel.  Mr.  Huckley  gave  orders  that  roi-ms  should  be 
prepared  for  your  reception."  We  went  to  my  stateroom,  i'uss 
picking  up  my  satchel,  said.  "Lola.  1  suppose  you  have  got  all 
the  crown  jewels  in  the  satchel?"  which  made  me  laugh.  1  -aid. 
"I'uss.  minus  the  crown."  I  picked  up  my  outside  wrap  and  silk 
umbrella  and  we  went  forth  to  go  on  shore.  When  we  got  near 
the  gangplank  there  were  several  friends  to  welcome  me  back. 


18          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  was  glad  to  see  them  all.  Mr.  Conway  was  standing  along- 
side of  an  officer  in  close  conversation.  At  the  same  time  Mr. 
James  Buckley  stepped  up  and  said,  "Lola,  permit  me  to  take 
your  wrap  and  umbrella."  At  the  same  time,  Mr.  Conway  and 
the  officer  turned  around  and  faced  us.  When  Mr.  Conway  said 
to  the  officer,  "There  is  the  little  chap,  Mr.  Gaston,  that  jumped 
on  your  back  and  then  on  the  gangplank."  The  officer  straight- 
ened himself  up,  and  with  a  roguish  smile,  said,  "Young  man, 
do  you  know  that  it  is  a  state's  prison  offense  to  hit  a  man  with 
a  sand  bag  when  he  is  down?  If  you  don't  pass  me  in  to  see  you 
perform  tonight  I  will  sue  you  for  breach  of  promise,  as  you 
tried  to  lead  me  astray  on  the  gang  plank  of  a  public  steamer," 
which  caused  a  big  laugh.  Puss  says,  "Conway,  write  that  evil- 
minded  man  out  a  pass,  and  put  my  name  in  very  large  letters 
so  that  he  will  remember  he  is  a  very  inferior  person."  Before 
I  knew  it  the  officer  grabbed  him,  hugged  him  and  kissed  him, 
and  my  poor  satchell  that  never  harmed  anyone,  with  all  the 
crown  jewels — there  were  no  crown  jewels  in  the  satchel — lay 
sprawling  on  the  deck,  which  caused  a  big  laugh.  When  wre 
had  collected  my  goods  together  and  were  about  to  descend  the 
gangplank  the  captain  of  the  ship  stepped  up  and  said,  "Madam, 
allow  me  to  see  you  to  your  carriage."  Mr.  Gaston,  the  officer, 
said,  "Little  One,  I  dare  you  to  get  up  on  my  shoulder  and  let  me 
carry  you  to  the  dock."  No  quicker  said  than  done.  The  Little 
One  mounted  to  his  shoulder,  when  the  people  on  the  dock  and 
on  the  steamer  commenced  to  cheer.  So  then,  you  see,  I  was 
escorted  to  my  carriage  in  regal  state,  all  my  friends  following 
as  my  retinue.  They  entered  several  carriages  and  escorted  me 
to  my  hotel  where  quite  an  elaborate  banquet  was  waiting  us.  I 
felt  happier  than  I  ever  did  when  I  wore  royal  jewels.  To  be 
a  queen  with  dear  friends  and  hear  their  loving  words  concern- 
ing my  welfare  was  greater  to  me  than  all  the  thrones  of  Europe. 
I  thanked  God  in  my  heart  to  know  I  was  once  more  in  the  land 
of  freedom,  where  a  woman  is  as  good  as  a  man.  if  she  conducts 
herself  properly. 

I  leave  my  love  for  the  little  Medium,  and  thank  you,  sir, 
kindly  for  taking  down  my  communication.  I  am  the  once  un- 
happy Lola  Montez,  but  now  a  spirit,  understanding  that  which 
is  best  for  my  progression.  Goodbye. 


General  John  H.  Morgan 

Chapter  II 


Saturday,  August  10,  1901. 

Attention !  We  have  a  grave  question  to  deal  with  this 
morning — one  which  the  world  must  be  the  judge  of — was  this 
medium  a  spy  or  was  he  not?  That  is  the  question  before  the 
yeople.  Or  was  he  merely  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  spirits  who 
acted  upon  his  organization  at  will.  He  was  always  looked  upon 
as  a  strange  child.  I  do  not  think  he  was  two  hours  alike,  out  of 
the  twenty-four. 

I  am  going  to  relate  a  strange  incident  for  the  benefit  of 
readers.  I,  John  Morgan,  sometimes  looked  upon  as  a  gentle- 
man soldier,  at  other  times  as  a  leader  of  a  guerilla  band  ;  some- 
times as  an  adventurer  and  at  other  times  a  rascal  of  the  worst 
kind.  But,  you  know,  all  is  fair  in  love  and  war.  It  was  ac- 
cording to  what  neighborhood  or  locality  I  was  in,  I  was  ad- 
dressed and  looked  upon  according  to  their  ideas  at  that  time. 
One  day  I  was  informed  by  a  Mr.  Donaldson  that  over  in  the 
borders  of  Virginia,  just  a  little  way  out  of  Kentucky,  there  were 
two  brothers  living  with  their  families  who  were  strong  Union 
men.  They  were  the  owners  of  some  fine  horses  and  cattle, 
just  such  as  our  army  needed  and  they  had  provisions  in  abund- 
ance and  fodder  galore  for  our  horses.  So  I  thought  we  had 
better  make  them  a  visit  and  secure  some  rations  for  our  army. 
Sometimes  I  was  called  by  I'nion  people  a  rebel  dog  who  barked 
more  than  I  could  bite;  but  once  in  a  while  I  fastened  my  teeth 
with  a  tenacious  rebel  grip,  and  before  I  let  go  they  found  the 
Southern  Confederacy  could  take  hold  once  in  a  while  and  do 
things  up  brown. 

When  we  had  made  a  visit  to  the  I'nion  curs  and  collected 
things  to  send  back  by  some  of  our  men.  we  thought  we  would 


20  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

go  a  little  farther  into  Virginia.  We  halted  in  the  afternoon  at 
a  beautiful  place  called  Saunders'  Corners.  While  we  were  rest- 
ing there  and  thinking  about  the  Yankee  toothpicks  that,  per- 
haps, we  would  meet  on  the  morrow,  a  Southern  gentleman 
came  riding  along  leisurely.  When  he  saw  us  he  approached 
our  camp.  He  addressed  a  lieutenant,  saying,  "Who  commands 
these  men-?"  Hearing  his  voice,  I  stepped  to  the  front,  and  said, 
"I  do,  sir."  He  said,  ''What  might  your  name  be?"  I  said, 
"Morgan,  sir.  What  can  I  do  for  you?"  He  says,  "John  Mor- 
gan?" I  says,  "The  same,  sir;  at  your  pleasure."  He  got  down 
off  his  horse  and  shook  hands  with  me,  telling  me  he  was  glad 
to  see  me.  I  said,  "Now,  sir,  what  is  your  name?"  He  said, 
"My  name  is  William  Anderson  Wilson.  My  mother's  father 
owns  all  this  property  around  here."  Then  I  said,  "You  are  a 
family  of  some  means.''  He  said,  "To  be  sure,  as  all  Southern 
gentlemen  should  be."  He  says,  "General,  I  have  got  something 
funny  to  tell  you.  As  I  came  along  by  Colonel  Blackwell's  quar- 
ters, which  are  close  to  my  home,  he  called  me  in,  saying,  'The 
men  have  just  brought  in  a  little  Union  spy.  He  is  a  little  Mu- 
latto boy  and  saucier  than  all  tarnation.  I  asked  him  who  his 
father  was.  He  said.  Jeff  Davis,  the  defunct  president  that  is  to 
be  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.'  I  said  'Colonel,  may  I  see 
him?'  He  said,  'Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Wilson/  Then  he  sent 
for  him  to  be  brought  to  his  quarters.  When  he  came  in  to  the 
presence  of  the  colonel,  he  came  to  attention  and  saluted  him, 
saying,  'Colonel  IHackwell  by  name  and  nature.  I  am  here,  at  your 
service/  which  made  use  all  laugh.  The  colonel  said,  'You  Yankee 
imp,  ho\v  dare  you  say  that  Jefferson  Davis  is  your  father?" 
The  Little  One  looked  up  with  a  roguish  smile  at  the  colonel, 
and  said,  'He  is  worse  than  that  ;  he  is  the  youngest  son  of  old 
Lucifer  and  yon  are  all  his  attendants — or,  in  other  words,  his 
retinue  and  serfs,  who  one  dav  will  partake  of  a  grand  dinner  in 
hell.  I  tell  you.  colonel,  Yankee  powder  will  make  a  big  stink 
that  da\'/  1  was  all  the  time  watching  this  little  curse  closely. 
When  he  had  done  speaking,  I  said,  'Colonel,  that  boy  is  not  a 
Mulatto.  His  skin  is  only  tinted  to  look  as  such/  The  colonel 
says.  'Mr.  Wilson,  do  you  reallv  think  so?'  I  said,  'I  do.  colonel/ 
He  ordered  a  tin  basin  of  water  and  a  rag  brought  to  him. 
lie  asked  his  orderly  to  wash  that  boy's  face  and  use  plenty  of 


GENERAL  JOHN   H.   MORGAN  21 

soap  in  the  operation.  The  orderly  did  so  and  when  he  had 
washed  his  face  off  all  clean  once  more,  he  washed  the  soap  all 
off  with  clean  water.  He  disclosed  to  us  one  of  the  prettiest 
faces,  I  think  I  ever  saw.  It  looked  more  like  a  girl's  face  than 
a  boy's.  I  said,  'Colonel,  I  believe  that  is  a  girl  and  not  a  boy 
at  all.'  He  said,  '\Yilson,  Jesus!  but  it  is  pretty  to  be  in  such  a 
business  as  this.  I  have  ordered  him  to  be  shot  at  seven  o'clock 
tomorrow  morning.  I  did  think  about  having  him  shot  at  day- 
break. I  changed  my  mind  and  thought  I  would  give  him  one 
square  meal  before  I  sent  his  soul  to  hell,  where  it  belongs,  and 
every  son  of  a  bitch  of  a  Yankee  that  fights  under  the  Lincoln 
banner.'  I  said,  'Colonel,  it  seems  cruel  to  me  to  take  the  life 
of  such  a  pretty  little  one  as  that,' — for  I  tell  you,  Morgan,  my 
heart  was  going  out  to  that  little  Yankee.  I  said  to  the  little 
boy,  'Think  what  a  crime  you  have  committed  by  entering  the 
Southern  lines  as  a  spy,  when  you  should  be  at  home  tucked 
in  bed  by  your  mother.'  He  looked  up  at  me,  with  a  roguish 
smile,  and  said,  'Do  you  call  it  a  crime  to  visit  old  friends?'  I 
said,  'Old  friends!'  He  said,  '\\liy,  yes;  you  are  old  friends  of 
mine.'  'Me?'  I  said,  '\Yhy,  I  never  saw  you  before  in  my  life.' 
He  said,  'Oh,  yes;  you  did,  Mr.  \Yilson.'  I  said,  '\Yhere  did  I 
ever  see  you?'  He  said,  '\Ye  met  at  Mr.  Carlton's  home.  Don't 
you  remember?  I  was  there  with  the  I'ucklev  family,  making 
a  visit,  and  while  we  were  staying  there  you  and  Mrs.  \Yilson 
made  them  a  visit.  Don't  you  remember,  I  sat  on  your  knee 
and  sang  "Kathleen  Mavourneen"  for  you.'  I  said  to  him. 
'Good  God!  Are  you  that  Little  One  that  sat  on  my  knee 
on  Mr.  Carlton's  porch  and  sang  for  us  all?  I  tried  to  get  Mr. 
Buckley  to  give  you  to  me,' — for  we  had  no  children  then,  and 
very  little  prospects  of  getting  any.  Morgan,  he  stepped  for- 
ward and  took  a  hold  of  my  hands,  looked  up  into  my  face  and 
sang  a  verse  of  'Kathleen  Mavourneen.'  I  thought,  general. 
I  should  fall  to  the  floor  before  he  had  finished.  \Yhen  he  had 
finished  I  took  him  in  my  arms  and  held  him  to  my  breast.  I 
burst  out  a  crying,  saying.  'Oh.  Little  (  hie.  Little  One.  it  grieves 
me  to  see  you  here.'  I  turned  and  addressed  the  colonel,  saying. 
'Can  you  not  spare  his  life?  He  was  once  loved  by  many  people. 
and  it  is  hard  to  see  him  die  so  young.'  The  colonel  said.  'Xo. 
"VYilson.  T  cannot  spare  him.  I  have  hoard  of  him  before.  He 


22          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

is  one  of  the  worst  spies  that  Lincoln  has.  He  enters  our  lines 
sometimes  as  a  girl  and  sometimes  as  a  boy  and  at  other  times  as 
a  little  old  woman.  I  heard  of  him  one  time  as  a  little  old  nigger 
wench  selling  things  to  the  soldiers ;  at  another  time  as  a  boy 
belonging  to  the  low  whites  selling  plug  tobacco.  That  time, 
Wilson,  he  stole  some  valuable  papers,  and  three  days  after  he 
had  disappeared  a  bloody  battle  took  place  and  our  men  were 
mowed  down  like  grain  in  a  field.  He  is  the  worst  imp  out  of 
hell  and  caused  the  Southern  Confederacy  more  trouble  than 
any  Union  spy  that  ever  entered  our  lines.  He  looks  beautiful — 
almost  like  an  angel  in  human  form — but  he  is  a  devil  reincar- 
nated in  that  little  body  and  must  die  tomorrow.  When  his 
lifeless  body  is  presented  to  the  president  at  Richmond,  I  get 
twenty  thousand  dollars  for  my  share  of  the  work — that  is  what 
President  Davis  has  offered  for  his  body,  dead  or  alive.  By  this 
time  tomorrow,  Wrilson,  that  pretty  little  face  and  body  that  you 
have  just  hugged  and  kissed,  calling  it  sweet  names,  will  be 
wrapped  up  in  a  blanket  and  on  its  way  to  Richmond.'  I  said, 
'Oh,  God !'  staggered  and  fell  to  the  ground,  wrhen  the  Little 
One  rushed  to  my  side  and  took  my  head  in  his  lap  and  said, 
'Oh,  Mr.  Wilson,  don't  feel  so  bad ;  you  know  there  is  many  a 
slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip.'  Then  he  kissed  me  time  and 
time  again.  I  tell  you,  Morgan,  those  were  sweet  kisses.  The 
colonel  took  a  hold  of  him  by  the  arm  and  dragged  him  roughly 
to  his  feet.  I  could  hear  his  little  bones  crack.  When  he  stood 
him  upon  his  feet  he  said,  'You  .damn  Lincoln  imp.  There  will 
be  no  slip  this  time,'  and  with  that  he  hit  him  a  blow  in  the  face, 
saying,  'I  will  spoil  your  damn  beauty  for  you.  It  has  lured 
many  a  man  to  his  ruin,  but  you  can't  escape  from  me  this  time.' 
And,  with  those  words,  he  hit  him  another  whack  in  the  face 
which  felled  him  to  the  ground.  I  jumped  up  and  grabbed  the 
colonel  by  the  coat  collar,  saying,  'Colonel  Blackwell,  you  are  a 
low  brute  of  the  worst  kind,  and  you  shall  answer  to  me  for  this.' 
I  stepped  toward  the  Little  One  to  take  him  in  my  arms.  The 
colonel  stepped  between  us,  saying,  'Xo,  you  don't,  \Vilson. 
None  of  your  petting  here.  That  God  damned  brat  dies  in  the 
morning.'  I  said,  'Little  One,  tell  me  your  real  name.'  He 
could  not  speak  for  a  minute  or  two,  for  the  blood  was  coursing 
out  of  his  mouth.  I  said,  'Colonel  Blackwell,  I  am  as  good  a 


GENERAL  JOHN   H.  MORGAN  23 

man  as  there  is  in  the  South  and  love  our  cause,  but,  God  damn 
you,  you  shall  pay  for  this  brutality.'  The  Little  One  spoke 
then  and  said,  'Sometimes  they  call  me  Justin.'  " 

With  that  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  as  if  a  ball  had  penetrated 
my  heart.  I  said,  "God  Almighty !  I  know  that  Little  One,  Wil- 
son. He  used  to  be  with  the  Buckley's,  on  Broadway,  New 
York,  when  I  was  stopping  there.  I  was  in  love  with  him  and 
tried  to  steal  him  and  carry  him  off  to  England,  but  I  failed  in 
my  purpose."  I  then  gave  orders  that  the  men  should  get  ready 
soon  as  possible.  It  was  only  a  little  while  when  we  were  on 
the  march.  I  said,  "Come,  Wilson,  we  will  save  the  Little  One, 
and  he  will  be  our  little  mascot,  if  I  have  to  put  a  bullet  through 
that  son  of  a  bitch,  Blackwell's  brain."  When  \Vilson  had  fin- 
ished telling  me  his  story,  it  was  then  past  nine  o'clock  and  quite 
dark.  Wilson  went  alongside  of  me  on  the  march. 

We  reached  Colonel  Blackwell's  quarters  about  half  past 
two  in  the  morning.  When  we  rode  up  I  commanded  the  sen- 
tinel who  was  on  guard  to  wake  up  Colonel  Blackwell  and  to 
bring  him  into  my  presence,  and  also  see  that  the  little  prisoner 
was  brought  to  me.  A  lieutenant  stepped  out  of  his  tent  who 
heard  me  speaking  loudly  and  said,  "General  Morgan,  what  is 
the  matter?  Can  I  do  anything  for  you?"  I  said,  "See  that 
that  brute  you  call  colonel  is  brought  into  my  presence  immedi- 
ately, before  I  go  into  his  tent  and  put  a  bullet  through  his 
lousy  brain."  He  went  into  the  tent,  where  he  found  the  soldier 
trying  to  wake  the  colonel  up.  He  came  back  to  me,  saying, 
"General,  there  is  something  the  matter  with  the  colonel.  We 
can't  wake  him  up."  Wilson  and  I  jumped  from  our  horses, 
went  into  his  tent  and  found  the  colonel  lying  there  like  a  dead 
man.  The  lieutenant  said,  "General,  he  smells  like  a  man  that 
has  been  chloroformed."  I  said,  "I  hoped  the  son  of  a  bitch  was 
dead."  Then  I  gave  orders  to  the  lieutenant  to  bring  the  little 
spy  to  me  immediately.  When  he  left  I  requested  the  soldier  to 
light  all  the  candles  that  were  in  the  shebang.  The  soldier  lit 
several.  I  cannot  remember  how  many.  After  he  had  done  so 
Mr.  Wilson  pointed  to  a  camp  stool  which  had  considerable 
blood  on  it.  He  said,  "General,  there  is  some  of  the  blood  that 
came  from  the  Little  One."  I  clasped  my  hands  to  my  head, 
saving,  "Oh.  little,  little  Justin,  if  I  had  onlv  been  here.  I  would 


24          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

have  saved  you  that  blow;  curses  on  his  black  soul,  but  he  shall 
pay  for  this."  I  lifted  the  camp  stool  and  kissed  the  blood, 
when,  great  God  !  I  found  myself  weeping  like  a  child.  I,  John 
Morgan,  the  terror  of  different  states.  Mr.  Wilson  came  forward 
and  laid  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  saying,  "General,  it  may  be 
hard  for  you  to  look  at  the  blood,  but  it  was  harder  for  me  to  see 
that  brute  there  strike  the  blow  that  felled  the  Little  One  to  the 
ground."  He  had  no  sooner  uttered  the  words  when  he  struck 
the  brute  a  blow  on  the  mouth  that  knocked  out  several  of  his 
front  teeth,  and  with  that  I  gave  him  a  kick.  When  the  lieu- 
tenant entered,  saying,  "General,  the  prisoner  is  nowhere  to  be 
found— he  must  have  escaped  in  the  night."  I  said,  ''Lieuten- 
ant, order  men  to  bring  water  here  and  dash  it  in  that  hog's 
face  that  he  may  come  back  to  his  senses ;  that  is,  if  he  has  got 
any."  They  brought  the  water  and  dashed  three  pails  of  it  on 
his  face,  when  he  showed  some  signs  of  returning  consciousness. 
They  got  some  liquor  and  hot  water  and  poured  it  down  his 
throat.  After  a  little  while  he  sat  up  and  said,  "Where  am  I?" 
I  said.  "You  are  here,  but  I  wish  you  were  in  hell,  you  dirty 
brute."  You  struck  a  Little  One  that  I  love  and  felled  him  to 
the  ground.  If  I  had  him  here  now  in  my  arms  he  would  be 
dearer  to  me  than  anything  there  is  on  earth."  He  spoke  in  a 
guttural  voice,  as  he  had  lost  his  front  teeth.  He  said,  ''Gen- 
eral, I  was  going  to  pardon  him  and  let  the  twenty  thousand 
dollars  go  to  hell.  He  had  promised  to  go  to  Canada  with  me, 
and  we  were  to  start  for  the  Union  lines  at  three  o'clock  this 
morning."  He  said,  "Oh,  God !  what  is  the  matter  with  my 
mouth?  It  hurts  so.  Look  at  this  blood!  How  did  it  come 
here?"  He  put  his  hand  up  to  his  mouth,  and  cried,  "By  Jesus 
Christ,  my  teeth  are  gone — that  little  bastard  of  hell  must  have 
drugged  me  and  then  knocked  my  teeth  out.  God  damn  his 
little  eternal  soul.  I  believe  the  bastard  is  a  witch,  general.  I 
washed  him  all  up  and  fed  him.  My  heart  felt  sore  to  think 
what  I  had  done  and  he  got  around  me  in  such  a  way  that  I 
believe  the  bastard  of  hell  bewitched  me.  I  became  so  fascin- 
ated that  I  told  him  if  he  would  fly  with  me  to  Canada,  where  I 
had  relations  living  in  Montreal  I  would  make  him  the  happiest 
being  on  earth.  I  got  down  on  my  knees,  general,  and  begged 
him  to  forgive  me  for  what  I  had  done.  He  kissed  me  on  the 


GENERAL  JOHN   H.  MORGAN  25 

mouth  and  said  he  forgave  me.  Then  I  became  a  lost  man. 
We  both  laid  down  here  on  this  bunk  to  rest,  saying  we  would 
take  a  little  sleep  and  then  light  out  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing and  make  our  way  to  Canada.  General,  I  thought  then  I  was 
the  happiest  man  living.  I  was  going  to  desert  my  wife  and 
children  and  our  cause,  general."  I  said,  "Colonel  Blackwell,  do 
you  know  that  you  struck  one  of  the  dearest  things  on  earth  to 
me — something  that  I  love  and  cannot  possess?"  He  then 
looked  at  me  with  the  eyes  of  a  bloodhound,  saying,  "General 
Morgan,  are  you  another  one  of  his  victims?  Look  at  me  and 
take  warning.  See  what  the  imp  of  hell  has  done  for  me  and 
your  fate  may  be  worse.  General  Morgan. 

"Major  Thompson  told  me  that  he  saw  that  little  bastard 
sitting  on  General  Lee's  knee,  carressing  the  general  like  a  pet 
fawn,  and  General  Lee  looking  down  on  him  with  such  an  ex- 
pression in  his  eyes  as  if  he  had  captured  cupid  at  last.  I  tell 
you,  General  Morgan,  that  vampire  of  hell  left  that  night,  taking 
with  him  some  of  General  Lee's  most  valuable  papers.  How 
he  can  pass  through  the  lines  is  a  miracle  to  Jeff  Davis  and 
others.  They  have  set  all  kinds  of  traps  to  catch  him  but  nary 
a  catch.  Yesterday,  be  was  brought  here  to  me.  I  condemned 
him  to  be  shot,  for  I  was  anxious  to  get  that  reward,  for  you 
know  I  am  fond  of  gambling,  but  where  is  he  now?  You  will 
have  to  ask  God  or  the  devil,  for  I  think  they  are  the  only 
ones  that  can  answer  you,  for  I  am  blessed  if  I  can."  I 
ordered  Colonel  Blackwell  to  be  put  under  arrest  You  have 
permitted  that  Union  spy  to  escape  and  you  have  given  away 
valuable  secrets  that  belong  to  the  government  of  the  Confed- 
eracy; besides  you  did  not  treat  the  prisoner  of  war  with  the 
civilization  that  this  present  dav  boasts  of.  You  are  arrested 
as  a  traitor  to  our  cause  and  shall  be  tried  by  a  court,  consisting 
of  twelve  Southern  officers,  gentlemen  of  the  Southern  army. 
Tomorrow  you  shall  be  conveved  to  Richmond  and  there  stand 
trial.  I  was  glad  to  have  him  cast  in  prison.  I  told  the  lieuten- 
ant to  see  that  there  was  a  large  guard  put  over  him  until  be 
was  conevyed  to  Richmond.  Mr.  Wilson  and  myself  left  the 
tent,  mounted  our  horses  and  withdrew  with  my  men,  to  Mr. 
Wilson's  plantation,  which  was  about  two  miles  from  there. 
In  the  morninir  we  were  all  well  fed  and  found  comfortable 


26          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

quarters  for  two  or  three  days.  I  then  bade  Mr.  Wilson  and  his 
family  good  bye.  When  he  shook  my  hand  he  said,  "Thank 
God,  general,  that  brute  will  meet  his  reward."  I  said,  "Aye, 
Wilson,  he  has  already  met  his  fate."  He  said,  "Good  God,  gen- 
eral, what  do  you  mean?"  I  said,  "Last  night,  as  his  guard  was 
conveying  him  to  Richmond  through  a  piece  of  timber,  a  bullet 
found  his  brain,  and  he  dropped  like  the  dirty  dog  he  is."  He 
said,  "General,  can  I  kiss  you?  I  never  kissed  a  man  before  in 
my  life,  but  I  want  to  kiss  you,  General  Morgan."  We  clasped 
each  other  in  our  arms  and  then  kissed  like  brothers  in  a  good 
cause,  for  I  loved  the  Little  One. 

I  then  left  and  returned  into  the  state  of  Kentucky.  In 
about  three  months,  afterwards,  two  of  my  men  went  to  spying 
around  Louisville  and  to  hear  how  things  were  getting  on  with 
the  Union  forces.  They  returned  giving  me  information.  One 
of  them  handed  me  a  bill  of  the  theater  on  which  I  read,  "For 
three  nights  only,  the  Little  Queen  of  Burlesque  shall  appear — 
A  change  of  bill  each  night."  When  I  held  the  bill  and  read  it 
I  felt  that  was  little  Justin  that  was  playing  at  the  theater.  I 
got  myself  up  as  an  old  man,  went  into  Louisville,  went  direct 
to  the  hotel  where  the  landlord  knew  me,  told  him  I  wished  to 
speak  with  him  in  private.  When  we  had  entered  the  room 
and  locked  the  door,  I  said,  "Xow,  tell  me,  does  the  Little  One 
that  they  call  the  Queen  of  Burlesque  stop  here?"  He  said, 
"Morgan,  that  little  individual  stops  here,  but  what  has  that  got 
to  do  with  you?"  I  said,  "Has  it  got  large  dark  blue  eyes?"  He 
said  "Yes."  I  then  told  him  that  Little  One  was  the  wife 
of  a  Union  officer  who  bore  the  name  of  Warren.  The  creature 
is  in  the  city  for  no  good  purpose.  Xow,  I  want  to  tell  you, 
Henry,  and  will  make  a  clean  breast  of  it,  "I  love  that  Little 
One  and  am  here  to  carry  her  off.  You  must  help  me  out  in 
this  condition  and  you  will  never  regret  it.  I  want  to  become 
the  possessor  of  that  little  body  and  if  you  help  me  to  carry  out 
this  work  and  when  he  is  in  my  arms  and  I  have  landed  safe 
with  him  in  the  midst  of  my  men,  one  of  my  followers  will  bear 
a  bag  to  you  containing  a  thousand  dollars  in  gold."  "But," 
he  said.,  "John,  you  are  a  married  man."  "It  matters  not;  I 
wish  to  possess  that  little  piece  of  humanity  for  my  own,  and 
when  he  looks  up  in  my  face  with  my  arms  around  him  pro- 


GENERAL  JOHN   H.  MORGAN  27 

tecting  him  from  the  whole  world,  I  don't  care  for  God  Almighty 
then  or  any  other  fellow  that  bears  that  title."  I  said,  "Now, 
Henry,  what  is  the  number  of  that  individual's  room?"  He 
said,  "Number  two,  next  to  the  parlor;  but  they  are  all  at  re- 
hearsal now."  I  said,  "Henry,  you  will  have  a  chair  reserved 
for  me  right  opposite  where  the  Little  One  sits  at  the  table.  I 
will  watch  him  till  he  leaves  the  table.  He  cannot  recognize  me 
in  this  disguise.  I  will  follow  him  to  his  room,  then  enter  it.  and 
lock  the  door."  I  did  so.  I  entered  the  room  and  locked  the 
door.  He  turned  around  and  faced  me,  with  those  beautiful 
eyes  glaring  like  a  tiger.  Oh,  I  tell  you  she  became  grand  when 
enraged.  A  man  would  sell  his  soul  for  her.  She  says,  "Who 
are  you  and  what  do  you  want?  How  dare  you  enter  my  room 
and  lock  the  door."  With  that  she  took  a  dagger  out  of  her 
breast  as  quick  as  lightning  and  came  toward  me.  I  threw  off 
my  gray  wig  and  snatched  off  my  white  beard  and  stood  before 
her  saying,  "Sweet  Justin,  I  came  for  you.  I  want  you  to  go 
back  with  me  and  you  shall  queen  it  over  me  and  my  men.  Come, 
Justin,  and  your  word  shall  be  law.  She  let  the  dagger  fall  ou1. 
of  her  hand  and  gasped  for  breath,  saying,  "John  Morgan,  you 
here?"  I  said,  "Aye,  Little  One,  I  have  risked  all  this  for  you. 
Don't  you  think  it  is  worth  something?  Come,  pet,  and  go  back 
with  me.  If  that  Union  officer  loved  you  he  would  not  allow 
you  to  go  around  the  country  like  this.  Your  playing  here  and 
there  a  night  or  two  is  only  a  blind.  Justin,  you  are  only  a 
Union  spy,  and  I  know  it.  I  sent  a  bullet  through  a  man's  head 
that  struck  you  when  you  were  captured  inside  of  the  rebel 
lines,  as  you  call  it.  I  killed  Colonel  Blackwell  and  would  kill 
any  other  man  that  would  raise  his  hand  against  you.  You  see, 
Justin,  I  love  you,  and  would  even  murder  Jeff  Davis  did  you 
but  command  it." 

He  fell  into  my  arms  crying,  the  shock  had  been  too  great 
for  him.  I  sat  clown  on  the  sofa  and  held  him  in  my  arms.  He 
put  his  little  hand  up  to  my  face  and  said.  "Oh,  John.  John,  we 
are  enemies,  did  you  but  know  it.  I  am  the  wife  of  a  Union 
Officer  and  a  spy  for  that  Union  and  could  never  bear  any 
friendship  for  the  man  that  would  try  to  break  it  up,  let  alone 
love  him.  Papa  Warren,  is  the  dearest  thing  there  is  on  earth 
to  me.  He  is  my  God  and  all  there  is  to  live  for.  Oh.  John,  go 


28          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

back  to  your  people  and  be  friends/'  I  said,  "By  all  that  is 
holy,  you  shall  go  back  with  me."  He  said,  ''That  can  never 
be."  I  said,  "Then,  you  can  do  one  thing  for  me,  you  can  ac- 
company me  to  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  professing  to  be  my 
friend,  when  once  I  reach  there  then  I  can  escape  beyond  the 
Union  lines."  I  had  my  mind  made  up  inwardly  that  if  I  ever 
got  him  as  far  as  the  suburbs  of  the  town  he  would  not  escape 
me  and  he  would  be  mine  for  all  time  to  come.  Oh,  God,  sir,  if 
you  ever  loved  as  I  loved  him,  or  her,  if  you  choose  to  call  it, 
you  would  kill  anyone  that  would  stand  between  you.  My  love 
was  what  you  would  call  desperate  love.  I  had  only  eyes  for 
one  and  that  was  little  Justin.  I  thought  of  him  night  and  day, 
and  even  dreamt  of  the  time  when  he  should  become  mine;  but, 
alas  !  it  never  came  to  pass.  He  said,  "John,  if  you  must  have 
me  accompany  you,  I  will  go  into  my  sleeping  room  and  put 
something  on  so  the  people  won't  recognize  me."  I  said,  "All 
right,  Little  One ;  but  don't  be  gone  long,  for  I  can't  bear  to 
have  you  out  of  my  sight  now  that  I  have  found  you."  He  said, 
"It  will  only  take  just  about  five  minutes  and  I  will  be  ready." 
Oh,  God,  but  I  was  a  happy  man  then,  thinking  I  was  going  to 
carry  the  Little  One  back  with  me.  "While  I  was  walking  up  and 
down  the  floor,  backwards  and  forwards,  to  pass  the  time  away, 
I  heard  a  little  noise  and  said  to  myself,  "Xow,  he  is  hurrying 
up."  I  looked  at  my  watch  and  found  ten  minutes  had  gone, 
and  said,  "I  will  wait  a  few  minutes  more.  If  he  does  not  come 
out  I  will  go  in  search  of  him.  I  knocked  at  the  door  and  re- 
ceived no  answer.  I  tried  the  handle  of  the  door  and  found  it 
locked.  I  said,  "Good  God  !  can  it  be  possible  that  he  has  es- 
caped me,  after  all?"  I  made  quick  steps  for  the  door  that  led 
into  the  hall  of  the  room  which  I  was  in.  I  found  the  door 
locked  and  the  key  gone.  I  said,  "Mother  of  God,  I  am  caught 
in  a  trap  !" — while  passing  to  the  other  room  he  must  have  taken 
the  key  out  of  the  lock.  I  went  to  the  bell  cord  and  rang  it 
vigorously.  A  bellboy  answered  my  summons.  I  said.  "You 
send  the  landlord  here  with  a  key  that  can  open  this  door." 
In  the  meantime  I  resumed  my  disguise.  When  the  landlord 
came  with  a  pass  key  and  opened  the  door  and  when  he  stood 
in  the  room,  I  said,  "Henry,  by  the  living  God,  he  has  escaped 
me  after  all."  He  said,  "How  is  that,  John?"  I  said,  "He  went 


GENERAL  JOHN   H.   MORGAN  29 

into  that  room  to  put  on  a  disguise  to  accompany  me  to  the 
suburbs  of  the  city.  I  thought  he  was  "staying  too  long.  I 
knocked  at  the  door  and  received  no  answer.  I  then  tried  and 
found  it  locked,  and,  as  you  see,  I  am  here  an  entrapped  man 
and  the  bird  has  flown.  By  all  the  Gods  and  saints  that's  in  the 
calender,  if  I  ever  get  my  hands  on  him  again  I  want  to  see  him 
get  away  ;  that's  all !" 

Two  weeks  afterwards  I  saw  by  a  Cincinnatti  paper  he  was 
playing  at  the  theater  there.  I  went  to  Covington,  Kentucky, 
sent  for  the  landlord  of  the  Walnut  Street  House  to  come  and 
see  me  as  quick  as  God  would  let  him.  He  did  so  and  we  had  a 
private  conference  together.  I  said,  "Now,  look  here, 'Will,  if 
you  will  entrap  that  Little  One,  whom  I  see  by  the  papers  is 
stopping  at  your  house,  and  will  place  him  tonight  in  a  close 
carriage,  gag  him  and  bring  him  to  me,  so  that  he  can't  cry  out 
while  on  the  road,  place  him  in  my  arms,  my  men  and  myself 
shall  rol)  a  bank  and  you  shall  own  every  bloody  dollar  that  is 
in  it.  I  don't  care  how  many  thousands  we  find  there,  it  shall 
be  yours.  Now,  see  that  you  do  the  job  up  clean  becoming  a 
Southern  gentleman." 

That  night  at  ten  o'clock  I  received  a  message  saving  the 
Little  One  had  fled  the  city.  "I  believe  he  is  a  witch  and  became 
suspicious  of  my  kindness  towards  him,  and  he  is  nowhere  to  be 
found."  1  met  John  Robinson,  the  circus  man,  and  asked  him 
if  he  saw  anything  of  little  Justin.  lie  said.  "Yes.  I  saw  him  in 
a  buggv  with  a  man  and  thev  were  driving  to  the  railroad  sta- 
tion as  fast  as  two  beautiful  horses  could  take  them.  It  was 
Mr.  Ross  who  was  driving  him  with  his  two  fast  horses.  Kate 
and  Jennie.  I  yelled  out  'Ross,  what  is  your  hurry?'  He  yelled 
out  he  has  got  to  catch  the  nine  o'clock  train."  I  looked  at  my 
watch  when  I  got  in  front  of  the  drug  store  window  and  saw  they 
had  only  thirteen  minutes  to  get  there  by  my  time.  If  they 
caught  the  train,  little  Justin  is  on  his  way  east  by  this  time. 

I  heard  four  mornings  afterward  by  the  paper  that  the 
court  house  or  place  where  the}'  met  at  Harper's  Ferry,  had  been 
robbed  and  some  valuable  papers  stolen.  Some  people  of  the 
town  said  thev  saw  a  smart-looking  bov  leave  the  train  and 
the  next  time  he  was  seen  he  was  walking  through  the  street. 
That  same  niirht.  about  eleven  o'clock,  one  of  the  guards  on  the 


30          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

bridge  was  found  dead  with  a  bullet  hole  in  his  head.  I  have 
learned  since  I  came  to  spirit  life,  the  Little  One  robbed  the 
court  house  that  evening.  He  approached  the  bridge  in  com- 
pany with  a  Union  friend.  The  sentinel  who  was  on  guard  chal- 
lenged them.  The  Union  friend  sent  a  bullet  through  his  head 
and  he  was  found  dead  when  they  came  to  change  the  sentinels. 
The  Little  One  fled  across  the  bridge  into  the  dark  night.  He 
walked  about  a  mile,  when  he  came  to  a  plantation  house.  As 
he  approached  the  house  he  met  an  old  darkey,  to  whom  he  said, 
"I  have  dispatches  here  in  my  breast  for  Father  Lincoln  who  is 
trying  to  free  your  race.  See  that  you  saddle  me  your  best 
horse  as  quick  as  possible,  so  that  I  may  carry  these  papers  to 
the  President  without  delay."  I  heard  through  one  of  our  spies 
that  he  arrived  safe  in  Washington  and  placed  the  papers  in  old 
Abe  Lincoln's  hands.  I  never  saw  him  again  in  the  body.  I, 
John  Morgan,  tell  you  these  things,  so  that  you  may  know  what 
kind  of  a  life  we  lived  during  the  war.  Good  day,  sir. 


Violet  Campbell 

Chapter  III 


Friday,  August  16,  1901. 

Oh,  life,  life,  what  is  it?  It  is  like  a  rainbow  with  many 
tints  and  when  the  tints  become  dim  and  pass  into  the  shadow 
and  so  it  has  been  with  many  lives.  They  bore  the  glorious 
tints  and  shades  of  life's  rainbow.  They  budded  and  blossomed 
to  fade  again  from  earth  and  pass  into  that  vast  array  called  the 
keystone  of  life.  They  entered  into  the  temple  and  became  in- 
itiated. When  the  work  is  perfect  and  well  done  and  becomes 
satisfactory  to  the  neophyte  and  masters,  then  the  Great  Master 
will  proclaim  to  the  world,  "It  is  finished."  Oh,  Rebecca,  Re- 
becca, thy  children  have  seen  the  great  star  and  now  they  be- 
lieve in  the  mastership  of  its  origin.  It  is  the  great  constel- 
ation  leading  thy  children  to  understand  the  mastership  of  cre- 
ation. 

This  instrument  through  which  I  speak  budded  and  blos- 
somed. He  budded  during  the  hard  trials  of  life  without  the 
proper  care  of  a  loving  father  and  mother.  When  the  flower 
opened  from  budhood  and  burst  into  a  blooming  flower  that  be- 
came the  admiration  of  people  from  many  climes  and  nations, 
he  took  upon  him  all  the  shimmering  tints  and  hues  of  a  beau- 
tiful rainbow;  but,  alas!  they  had  to  fade,  as  old  age  crept  over 
the  material  body,  and  now,  as  the  sun  is  going  down  and  fading 
upon  this  incarnation,  the  body  will  wane  and  some  day  be  laid 
away  to  provide  nutrition  for  one  of  the  beautiful  wild  flowers 
of  nature,  and  when  it  is  throwing  off  its  beautiful  odor,  or,  in 
other  words,  its  sweet  scent  which  will  perfume  all  space  around 
it.  When  I  look  at  your  beautiful  hills,  mountains  and  glens, 
Oh!  that  my  spirit  might  have  passed  away  in  such  an  element 
as  this,  fitting  for  the  Gods  of  all  time  to  worship  at  the  shrine 
of  wisdom  and  intellect.  Apollo  must  have  moved  through 


32  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

these  groves  that  his  rich  deep  voice  left  such  an  echo  through 
the  woodland.  Oh,  how  he  must  have  flirted  with  Venus,  in  his 
chariot  that  rode  on  the  clouds  of  time,  when  he  dwelt  in  the 
midst  of  the  shadows,  the  female  gods  attending  him  singing 
their  song  of  praise  about  his  manly  beauty.  His  form  was  the 
admiration  of  all  female  intellect;  but,  alas,  this  medium  that  I 
now  control,  his  form  and  looks  were  the  dream  of  Apollo.  An 
angel  must  have  visited  the  mother  in  her  sleep  to  give  such  a 
form  as  this  for  the  world  of  men  to  rave  over.  Being  of  both 
sexes,  it  created  in  its  nature  a  spell  that  he  wove  over  the  peo- 
ple and  brought  them  to  his  feet. 

Friend,  I  come  here  today  to  make  a  confession  which  you 
will  understand  later  on.  I  lived  in  a  mortal  bod}'  and  had  weak 
points,  like  others  of  my  sex.  AYhile  visiting  in  Xe\v  York,  in 
1852,  in  the  month  of  October,  I  was  invited  to  be  one  of  a 
party  to  visit  a  performance  at  one  of  the  theaters  on  Broadway. 
We  occupied  a  box  on  the  right  of  the  stage.  I  sa\v  by  the  pro- 
gram the  name  of  the  play  was  ''The  Magic  Ring."  It  was  what 
they  call  a  spectacular  play.  The  scenes  were  grand  and  beyond 
my  imagination,  I  being  a  Southern  country  girl.  There  were 
some  of  the  scenes  that  so  enchanted  me  it  would  be  impossible 
for  me  to  describe  •  them.  In  some  of  the  scenes  when  the 
fairies  reveled  and  danced  I  became  speechless  and  had  no  eyes 
but  for  the  stage.  I  remember  in  the  grand  fairy  carnival  a 
devil  or  sprite  rushed  upon  the  stage  with  a  little  creature  that 
had  wings  on  it  like  a  butterfly.  When  it  had  reached  the  cen- 
ter of  the  stage  he  threw  this  little  creature  into  space :  she 
whirled  around  several  times  and  then  fell  into  the  arms  of  an- 
other sprite  or  demon  who  threw  her  to  the  center  of  the  stage 
where  she  stood  upon  one  toe,  with  her  other  foot  in  the  air, 
which  brought  from  the  people  tremendous  applause.  Then 
she  commenced  to  dance  upon  her  toes  a  dance  called  "La 
Ariel."  Her  dancing  and  execution  upon  her  toes  I  thought  was 
beyond  the  power  of  human  ken.  "When  the  curtain  went  down 
on  that  grand  scene  my  I'ncle  pointed  out  to  me  the  name  of 
that  individual  on  the  program.  It  read.  "The  Dashing  Blanch- 
ard,"  and  I  saw  by  the  description  that  she  represented  three 
different  characters  in  the  play.  One  was  a  page  to  the  great 
king,  and  I  thought  it  was  the  most  beautiful  boy  that  ever  saw 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL 

in  my  life.  When  this  great  king  falls  in  love  with  the  page  and 
takes  him  upon  his  knee,  saying,  "1  want  you  for  my  child.  You 
have  bewitched  me  and  1  must  possess  you  for  my  son."  Then 
the  king  takes  him  to  his  breast  and  lavishes  kisses  on  his  mouth, 
at  which  many  of  the  audience  called  out  "Share  those  with  us. 
if  you  please."  The  other  character  in  the  play  that  was  re- 
presented by  this  individual  is  what  they  called  the  soubrette 
of  the  piece.  I  think  in  that  character  she  was  the  sauciest  minx 
I  ever  saw.  She  fascinated  the  king's  butler,  and  also  the  King's 
clerical  individual.  These  two  parties  meet  in  the  woods  to 
fight  it  our,  and  she  walks  on  the  ground  linked  arm  in  arm 
with  the  king's  secretary.  When  she  beholds  the  bloody  duel 
that  she  has  been  the  cause  of  she  laughs  fit  to  kill  herself.  Then 
she  vanishes  from  the  grounds.  Then  the  two  men  seize  the 
king's  secretary  and  commence  to  punch  him,  which  sends  the 
people  off  into  a  roar  of  laughter.  Just  then,  two  policemen 
come  on,  led  by  an  old  hag — or,  perhaps,  you  would  call  her  an 
old  witch.  She  screams  at  the  top  of  her  voice  for  the  two  po- 
licemen to  seize  those  two  villains  and  carry  them  off  to  the 
deepest  dungeon  beneath  the  castle  walls.  \Yhen  the  policemen 
have  seized  the  two  men  and  the  poor  secretary  lies  bleeding 
on  the  ground,  she  throws  off  her  disguise  and  there  she  stands, 
the  beautiful  young  minx  again.  Thinking  of  the  trick  she  has 
played  upon  them  she  bursts  out  into  a  loud  laugh,  which  sets 
the  audience  into  roaring.  At  that  the  curtain  drops.  The  next 
and  last  scene  of  the  play  is  called  a  transformation  scene,  which 
is  beyond  my  description.  Those  three  characters  were  repre- 
sented by  this  medium — that  is,  the  danseuse.  the  beautiful  page 
and  the  flirting  soubrette  were  all  represented  by  Justin. 

One  afternoon  in  the  same  month  I  had  an  invitation  with 
several  others  to  attend  an  afternoon  coffee  at  the  Logan  home. 
There  I  met  Alice  and  Phoebe  Carey,  Mr.  Longfellow.  Mr.  Em- 
erson, Mr.  Lowell,  and  many  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  who 
were  well-known  to  the  public.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon the  names  of  Mr.  Warren  and  his  son  were  announced. 
There  entered  a  tall,  elegant-looking  gentleman,  holding  by  the 
hand  what  seemed  to  be  a  little  boy.  ( )ne  of  the  ladies  present 
went  forward  and  took  the  little  boy  by  the  hand,  saying. 
"Justin,  I  am  so  glad  you  came."  She  addressed  the  tall,  ele- 


34          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

gant-looking  man,  saying,  "Mr.  Warren,  let  me  have  Justin  a 
little  while,  these  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  present  will  enter- 
tain you.  I  want  to  have  a  long  talk  with  the  Little  One,  for 
perhaps,  some  day  he  may  be  one  of  the  characters  in  one  of 
my  books."  I  understood  afterwards  the  lady  bore  the  name  of 
Mrs.  Southworth.  While  she  was  talking  to  the  Little  One, 
Louisa  Alcott  said  to  Mr.  Lowell,  "Who  would  ever  think  that 
Little  One  could  play  so  many  different  characters?"  Olive 
Logan  said,  "Miss  Alcott,  he  is  older  than  you  think  he  is.  Mr. 
Warren  found  him  in  forty-eight,  and  then  he  looked  just  about 
as  he  does  now."  A  gentleman  who  bore  the  name  of  Bayard 
Taylor  said,  "Mr.  Warren,  will  you  and  your  boy  favor  us  with 
a  duet?"  He  said,  "I  guess  so."  Just  then,  Mrs.  Logan  said, 
"Mrs.  Southworth,  you  will  have  to  spare  the  Little  One  for  a 
while,  he  is  going  to  sing  with  his  father."  A  lady  sat  down  to 
the  piano  to  play  the  accompaniment,  I  think  she  was  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  women  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  She  bore  the  name 
of  Lizzie  Weston  Davenport.  Mr.  Warren  and  the  boy  stepped 
up  to  the  piano,  when  the  lady  said,  "Pet,  haven't  you  a  kiss  for 
me  today?"  He  said,  "Of  course  I  have,  Lizzie."  He  threw 
his  arms  around  her  neck  and  gave  her  I  guess  as  many  as  four 
or  five  kisses,  then  she  said,  "I  could  play  the  introduction  to 
any  piece  of  music  now."  Some  of  the  other  ladies  and  gentle- 
men said,  "I  think  he  ought  to  pass  those  around."  Mr.  AYarren 
said,  "Xot  until  he  has  got  through  singing."  Then  the  lady 
played  the  introduction  to  their  duet.  They  commenced  to 
sing,  and  Oh,  that  rich,  deep  bass  voice  I  never  can  forget. 
When  he  had  sung  about  a  stanza  then  came  in  a  beautiful  high 
soprano  voice  that  rang  throughout  the  parlors.  I  thought  to 
myself,  "Heavens,  these  must  be  opera  singers."  I  never  had 
the  pleasure  of  attending  an  opera  before  that  time ;  but  I  had 
the  pleasure  afterwards  of  hearing  Madam  Anna  Bishop  sing 
in  "Lucretia  Borgia,"  and  the  same  Little  One  played  the  page 
and  sang  the  drinking  song  at  the  banquet  table.  Their  duet 
here  in  this  house  that  I  speak  of  was  something  grand.  When 
they  had  finished  the  people  begged  of  them  to  sing  another, 
which  they  did.  After  they  had  sung  that  duet,  Mrs.  Logan 
came  into  the  room,  followed  by  a  servant,  carrying  two  glasses 
of  lemonade  on  a  silver  trav.  When  the  Little  One  saw  the 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  35 

lemonade,  he  said,  "Oh,  pshaw,  Mamma  Logan,  I  want  a  bigger 
one  than  that,"  which  made  us  all  laugh.  He  said,  "Justin, 
there's  a  pitcher  full  coming  and  you  can  have  all  you  want.  I 
know  how  you  like  lemonade  and  I  have  provided  a  large  pitcher 
full."  He  said,  "You  shall  have  the  first  kiss,  Mamma  Logan." 
When  Miss  Alice  Carey  spoke  up  and  said,  "Now,  Justin,  be- 
fore you  get  to  kissing  the  friends,  won't  you  please  sing  us 
"Coming  through  the  Rye?"  He  said,  "With  pleasure,  Miss 
Carey."  He  made  no  excuses,  like  so  many  singers,  but  turned 
around  to  the  lady  sitting  at  the  piano  and  said,  "Lizzie,  do  you 
feel  too  tired?"  She  said,  "Not  at  all,  if  you  will  promise  me 
the  second  kiss  after  Mrs.  Logan?"  He  said,  "It's  a  go."  She 
played  the  introduction  and  he  commenced  to  sing,  and  I  never 
heard,  "Coming  through  the  Rye"  sung  as  it  was  sung  that  after- 
noon. When  he  had  finished,  Mr.  Longfellow  said,  "Oh,  little 
darling,  won't  you  please  sing  one  verse  over  again."  The  Little 
One  said,  "Which  verse  shall  I  sing?"  Mr.  Longfellow  said, 
"  'Among  the  twain  there  is  one  swain  I  dearly  loo  mysel :  But 
what's  his  name  or  where's  his  hame  I  dinna  choose  to  tell.'  " 
He  sang  it  with  so  much  feeling  that  there  was  a  burst  of  ap- 
plause and  Mrs.  Logan  caught  him  in  her  arms,  saying,  "Xow, 
give  me  my  kiss,"  and  I  actually  believe  she  took  half  a  dozen  of 
them.  The  men  were  wiping  off  their  mouths  with  their  hand- 
kerchiefs, which  made  me  smile.  He  grabbed  Miss  Davenport 
and  hugged  and  kissed  her.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  they  must 
have  been  old  friends.  He  said,  "Xow,  I  am  going  to  papa  first : 
then  I  will  kiss  all  the  rest  of  you,"  which  he  did  in  turn. 

Several  of  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  present  got  up  and  read 
articles  which  they  had  written  out,  and  about  five  o'clock  we 
entered  the  dining-room  where  coffee,  cake  and  fruit  were 
served.  The  jokes  and  sayings  were  many.  The  company  was 
kept  in  a  constant  halo  and  atmosphere  where  they  reveled  in 
the  misty  spell  of  fun.  I  call  it  the  "misty,"  friend,  because  dur- 
ing the  whole  time  that  we  were  reveling  in  that  luxury  which 
seemed  to  us  a  dreamland  for  the  time,  the  spirit  rappings  were 
heard  all  over  the  walls  and  on  the  dining  table.  When  I  went 
to  raise  my  napkin  and  was  in  the  act  of  doing  so.  it  was 
snatched  out  of  my  hand,  carried  in  space  to  the  head  of  the 
table  and  there  placed  on  Mr.  Longfellow's  head  in  the  for- 


36  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

mation  of  a  night-cap,  which  was  the  cause  of  much  laughter. 
When  we  had  adjourned  to  the  parlor  again,  Mr.  Warren  begged 
to  be  excused.  He  said,  "It  was  his  desire  to  take  the  Little 
One  home  to  take  a  nap,  so  that  he  might  get  rested  before  he 
commenced  his  night's  work."  Mr.  Ralph  W'aldo  Emerson 
stepped  up  to  Mr.  Warren  saying,  "Don't  fail  to  make  me  that 
visit  next  summer  and  we  will  all  go  to  the  White  Mountains." 
Mr.  Warren  said,  "It  shall  be  so,  Mr.  Emerson,  when  I  give  my 
word  I  never  break  it." 

After  they  had  left  the  house  and  we  had  all  quieted  down 
again,  for  it  just  seemed  for  awhile  before  they  left  as  if  things 
had  turned  into  a  regular  babel.  The  ladies  and  gentlemen  were 
stealing  kisses  from  the  Little  One  and  I  felt  it  was  time  for 
his  father  to  take  him  somewhere  to  rest  if  he  expected  to  have 
a  whole  boy  to  take  with  him.  After  they  had  gone  I  said  to 
Alice  Carey,  "Miss  Carey,  will  you  please  tell  me  who  that  little 
person  is  that  you  all  admire  so  much.  He  sings  beautifully, 
but  I  cannot  believe  it  is  a  boy;  did  you  take  notice  of  the  way 
in  which  he  rolled  his  eyes  at  the  men,  while  he  was  singing 
'Coming  Through  the  Rye'?  "  Miss  Carey  said.  "That  is  in  his 
profession."  "Profession?"  I  said  "What  profession?"  "That 
is  the  little  Dashing  Blanchard."  "That  the  little  girl  that  I 
saw  dance  on  her  toes  so  beautifully  that  evening,  the  page  that 
fascinated  the  great  king  and  sang  that  beautiful  piece  of  music, 
'\Vhen  the  twilight  comes  at  eventide,'  and  also  that  saucy  sou- 
brette?"  Miss  Carey  said,  "The  same,  Violet."  I  said,  "You 
astonish  me.  Miss  Carey." 

The  next  year  I  met  him  at  our  home  in  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see. He  came  there  with  a  company  that  was  playing  "Aladdin." 
They  were  called  the  I'uckley  Serenaders.  I  invited  him  and 
Mr.  Warren  to  dinner  the  following  Sunday,  as  I  had  a  desire 
that  all  our  friends  in  the  city  should  meet  them.  There  were 
thirty-eight  in  all  sat  down  to  dinner  and  we  had  such  a  jolly 
time.  When  all  had  finished  for  the  day  in  visiting  and  inter- 
viewing the  Little  One,  mama  proclaimed  it  the  happiest  dav 
she  had  ever  spent  in  her  life,  but  one  and  that  was  the  day 
she  became  the  wife  of  Robert  Campbell. 

The  next  time  I  met  him  was  six  months  afterwards.  He 
was  playing  with  the  same  company  in  Richmond,  Virginia.  I 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  37 

was  visiting  my  eldest  sister,  Mrs.  Patterson,  near  Petersburg, 
Virginia.  We  saw  by  the  Richmond  paper  that  the  company 
was  playing  at  the  Richmond  Theater.  All  the  family  including 
myself  went  to  Richmond  to  witness  the  performance.  While 
we  were  sitting  at  the  table  at  dinner,  Mr.  Warren  and  the  Little 
One  walked  in.  They  were  ushered  to  a  round  table  by  them- 
selves. While  they  were  passing  along  to  this  table,  Mr.  War- 
ren's eyes  glanced  my  way  and  discovered  me  sitting  there  with 
my  friends.  I  heard  him  say,  "Puss,  there  is  Miss  Campbell." 
The  Little  One  said,  ''There  are  lots  of  Campbell's  in  the  world." 
Mr.  Warren  took  his  hand  and  turned  the  Little  One's  head. 
When  he  saw  me  I  waved  my  handkerchief  to  him.  He  said, 
"G.  Scott,  papa,  that  is  Violet  Campbell."  He  came  right  over 
to  where  I  was  sitting,  shook  hands  with  me,  Mr.  Warren  fol- 
lowing. I  introduced  them  to  my  sister  and  family.  Then,  the 
Little  One  said,  "Violet,  bring  your  chair  and  come  sit  at  our 
table.  I  have  got  lots  to  tell  you.  I  have  mashed  everything 
high  and  low  since  I  have  met  you."  I  arose  and  Mr.  Warren 
took  my  chair.  We  three  sat  down  at  their  table  to  dine  to- 
gether. The  Little  One  kept  me  laughing  pretty  much  all  of 
the  time.  "When  we  had  about  finished  dining,  Justin  said  to 
bis  father,  "Papa,  you  will  write  out  a  pass  for  one  of  the  boxes, 
if  there  is  such  a  thing  in  the  darn  old  theater.  I  forgot  to  look 
whether  the  town  owned  any  such  article  as  that.  Xow.  papa, 
you  write  out  the  pass  for  Miss  Violet  Campbell  and  all  her 
friends  with  the  niggers  thrown  in  fur  good  luck."  I  thanked 
them  kindlv  for  the  pass.  Thev  withdrew  to  their  rooms  to  rest 
for  the  afternoon  and  I  wont  back  to  my  tricnds.  Just  as  they 
were  in  the  act  of  leaving  the  table  Justin  took  my  hnad  and 
said,  "Violet,  don't  you  think  Papa  Warren  is  handsome.  He 
will  escort  you  tonight  to  the  theater  and  alter  the  performance 
lie  will  be  the  gallant  knight  to  see  you  back  to  the  hotel.  Xow, 
Violet  that  is  a  favor  that  1  don't  grant  to  many  young  ladies." 
I  thanked  her  kindlv.  for  1  must  inform  you  that  she  was  trav- 
eling in  woman's  clothes  at  this  time.  Mr.  Warren  was  a  hand- 
some man  and  I  was  proud  of  his  escort  to  and  from  the  theater 
that  evening,  and  I  must  admit  here  that  when  I  bade  him  good 
night  at  the  hotel  1  kissed  him  voluntary  of  my  own  free  will 
ns  he  had  to  return  to  the  theater  for  Justin. 


38          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Next  day  as  we  were  returning  to  our  own  home  we  stopped 
at  a  friend's  on  the  way.  Now,  here  sir,  I  must  make  my  first 
confession.  I  was  in  love  with  Mr.  Warren.  In  this  house, 
where  we  were  stopping,  I  took  a  pencil  and  wrote  him  a  love 
letter,  confessing  my  love  and  passion  for  him,  which  I  sent 
back  by  the  afternoon  mail  to  the  hotel.  Here  is  where  I  be- 
trayed the  confidence  that  Justin  placed  in  me.  I  received  an 
answer  to  my  note  at  Petersburg  from  Mr.  Warren,  in  which  he 
said,  "Miss  Violet  Campbell,  I  thought  that  you  were  a  lady. 
You  took  advantage  of  the  confidence  Justin  placed  in  you.  I 
wish  to  inform  you  that  what  little  correspondence  we  have  had 
must  cease  right  here  for  I  am  a  gentleman  and  love  my  little 
Justin,  soul  and  body."  It  was  such  a  rebuke  to  me,  sir,  that  I 
longed  for  vengeance.  I  returned  to  my  home  in  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  and  never  placed  my  eyes  again  on  the  Little  One 
until  our  Civil  War,  or  rebellion  as  you  call  it,  was  going  on.  I 
married  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Featherstone  who  at 
heart  was  a  Union  man  but  went  with  his  state,  which  you 
Northern  people  call  seceding.  He  became  an  officer  in  the 
Confederate  army.  During  the  war  Grant  and  Sherman  made 
things  pretty  lively  around  Memphis.  I  left  Memphis  to  join 
my  sister,  Mrs.  Patterson  whose  husband  was  also  an  officer 
in  the  Confederate  army,  or,  as  you  call  it,  the  Rebel  army.  Her 
home  was  in  Virginnia,  near  Petersburg. 

One  evening,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1863,  while  I  wras  living 
at  my  sister's  home,  we  were  entertaining  some  neighbors.  A 
Major  Miles's  family.  A  rap  came  to  the  parlor  door.  When  I 
opened  the  door  there  stood  a  tall,  guant,  rawboned-looking 
negress  that  went  by  the  name  of  Aunt  Judy.  She  requested 
me  to  come  into  the  hall  and  shut  the  door.  She  motioned,  in 
her  negro  way,  and  I  did  so.  When  the  door  was  shut  she  said, 
"For  the  Lawd  a  massy,  Miss  Violet,  dares  de  queerest  lookin 
critter  down  at  de  cabin  I  spec  dat  you  ever  see  in  all  your  born 
days.  He  said  for  me  to  tell  you  in  a  speechified  way  that  he 
want  to  see  you  right  smart  now.  Miss  Violet,  I  want  to  tell 
you  I  reckon  he  is  one  of  those  haunts  out  of  the  swamp.  Fse 
goin  tell  you  de  trufe  now,  right  straight  up.  Miss  Violet.  You 
know  that  turkey  what  you  white  folks  eat  up  las  week.  All  you 
white  folks  is  good  for  is  just  layin  round  and  eatin  up  good 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  39 

wittles  and  that  ar  war  going  on.  Well,  to  tell  you  howsom- 
ever  de  trufe,  my  old  man,  Pete,  stole  dat  dar  turkey  from  de 
Hennerson  people  and  he  thought  he'd  jes  take  anoder  one  at 
de  same  price  us  black  folks  done  eat  up.  Ole  Pete  sittin  down 
der  in  de  cabin  up  in  de  corner  shakiri  like  he  got  de  ager.  He 
says  de  dun  know'd  dat  ar  critter's  a  haunt  and  dat  he's  after 
him  fur  jes  borryin  dem  measly  ole  turkeys  dat  he  is  goin  to  pay 
back  after  de  war  was  done.  Dat  gosteses  or  haunt  or.  what- 
somever  tis,  ordered  me  speechified  like  to  come  up  here  an 
get  you  to  go  down  dar.  You  know  dat  time  when  old  Aunt 
Carline  died,  she  left  me  her  whole  fortune,  six  dollars  and  forty 
cents,  three  dresses  and  a  half  a  one  and  dis  yer  rabbit's  foot, 
what  her  grandmother  guv  her  on  de  clay  she  married  Eph. 
Well,  I  took  dis  yar  rabbit's  foot  out  of  my  breast.  I  kissed  it 
and  then  waved  it  at  de  haunt  and  rushed  by  him  out  de  cabin 
door.  As  I  was  goin  by  I  smelt  de  brimstone  dat  haunts  carry 
around  to  burn  up  niggers  with  down  in  hell  when  cley's  bad. 
Now,  that  gosteses  wants  to  see  you  right  smart,  Miss  Violet. 
I  guess  honey,  you'se  done  gone  and  did  something  what  dem 
haunts  don't  like,  so  you  better  tote  yarself  right  down  dar  an 
make  it  up  wicl  de  haunt.  It  lays  tween  you  and  my  ole  man 
Pete,  which  one  de  gosteses  is  goin  to  tote  clown  to  hell  right 
smart.  He  let  me  pass  by  and  didn't  throw  any  sulphur  on  me, 
so  I'se  free  clis  yar  time.  He  'aint  laid  his  eyes  on  Sukey  yet 
or  he'd  tote  her  along  wicl  him." 

That  is  the  way,  sir,  this  old  darkey  told  her  tale.  I  fol- 
lowed her  clown  to  the  cabin  and  to  my  astonishment  and  sur- 
prise, which  was  very  great,  there  stood  little  Justin  with  his 
clothes  all  torn  and  covered  with  mud.  His  face  was  scratched 
and  bleeding.  He  wore  no  hat  to  cover  his  head.  I  said.  "In 
the  name  of  God,  Justin,  what  arc  you  doing  here  and  looking 
like  this?  He  said,  "Three  clays  ago  I  escaped  from  Long- 
street's  corps,  which  was  in  North  Carolina,  and  reached  here 
tonight,  as  you  see  me.  You  arc  a  Union  woman  at  heart.  I 
ask  you  to  give  me  something  to  cat  and  a  night's  shelter." 
"Hut,"  I  said,  "Justin,  my  husband  is  an  officer  in  the  Rebel 
army,  and  I  would  be  hiding  an  enemy  of  our  cause."  He 
said,  "Mrs.  Featherstone,  your  husband  said  you  were  a  Union 
woman  and  would  give  me  shelter  for  one  night  at  least."  "Did 


40           THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

he  tell  you  that?"  "Yes,  and  he  said  his  heart  went  with  the 
Union,  too,  and  he  would  try  to  escape  into  the  Union  lines  and 
let  his  home  go  to  the  devil.  If  you  will  not  do  it  for  your  hus- 
band, do  it  for  old  friendship's  sake,  Violet."  "\Yhen  he  spoke 
the  word  "Yiolet"  there  arose  before  me  the  form  of  Mr.  \Yar- 
ren,  who  owned  my  heart,  as  I  never  gave,  it  to  that  man 
Featherstone,  whom  I  called  husband.  I  then  spoke  to  old  Aunt 
Judy,  who  remained  outside  and  was  afraid  to  come  in.  I  said. 
"Aunt  Judy,  this  Little  One  is  a  servant  of  Father  Lincoln,  who 
is  trying  to  free  your  people :  see  that  you  give  him  something 
to  eat  and  a  place  to  sleep.  He  will  rest  here  all  day  tomorrow 
and  leave  tomorrow  night  when  the  moon  rises."  He  then  said 
to  me,  "Mrs.  Featherstone,  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness."  I 
told  him  not  to  call  me  by  that  name,  "for  I  can  see,  Justin,  you 
read  my  heart  like  an  open  page:  I  love  Mr.  \Yarren  and  you 
know  it."  I  then  said,  "See  to  it,  Aunt  Judy,  that  he  is  pro- 
vided for."  I  was  about  to  leave  the  cabin  when  he  came  for- 
ward and  took  my  hand,  saying,  "Yiolet,  do  you  not  wish  me 
Godspeed,"  I  threw  his  hand  aside  and  said.  "Xo,  I  hate  you. 
I  hate  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  soul.  You  stand  between 
me  and  the  man  I  love.  I  hope  before  many  hours  a  bullet  will 
find  your  heart,"  and  then  I  left  the  cabin.  I  woke  up  that  night 
about  half  past  twelve  and  lit  a  match  and  looked  at  the  clock. 
There  was  loud  knocking  at  our  front  and  back  door.  I  went 
down  in  company  with  my  nephew,  who  was  about  twelve  years 
old.  the  only  white  male  that  was  left  on  the  place  ;  all  the  others 
had  gone  to  war.  My  eldest  sister  was  a  terrible  coward.  "We 
left  her  lying  across  the  bed  moaning  and  groaning,  saying. 
"She  knew  we  would  all  be  killed  bv  the  Yankees."  \\  ben  we 
reached  the  door  I  opened  it.  A  young  confederate  officer  by 
the  name  of  "Williams  addressed  me.  saying.  "Have  you  got  a 
young  boy  bid  in  this  borne?  He  was  seen  coming  this  way. 
lie  is  quite  small  and  a  Union  spy.  Mrs.  Featherstone."  My 
nephew  spoke  up  and  said,  "Xo,  Mr.  "Williams,  you  are  mis- 
taken :  there  is  no  such  person  in  this  bouse.  Every  night  Aunt 
Yiolet  and  myself  go  through  the  house  before  we  lock  up  to 
see  who  is  out  and  who  is  in,  for  you  know  we  cannot  depend 
on  the  negroes  now."  Mr.  "Williams,  the  officer,  spoke  up  and 
said,  "General  Longstreet  offers  S10.000  reward  for  the  capture 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  41 

of  that  little  chap.  Four  days  ago  he  was  at  General  Long- 
street's  headquarters  selling  pins,  needles,  thread  and  other  arti- 
cles that  soldiers  use.  He  also  sang  some  Irish  songs  with  a 
strong  Irish  brogue,  and  we  really  thought  he  was  a  little  Irish 
boy.  He  said  his  father  had  enlisted  in  a  Southe  Carolina  regi- 
ment. His  name  was  Alike  O'Xale  and  he  was  looking  for  him. 
General  Longstreet  and  several  of  the  other  officers  pitied  him 
and  had  something  brought  for  him  to  eat  and  drink.  After  he 
had  gotten  something  to  eat  and  drink,  he  laid  down  his  basket 
and  his  wrares  and  said  he  would  sing  and  dance  for  them  if  the 
General  would  give  him  a  pass  to  go  on  to  some  other  place. 
The  General  said  he  would,  for  he  was  anxious  to  see  what  the 
little  fellow  could  do.  Then  the  little  fellow  sang  and  danced 
for  them,  and  I  tell  you,  Mrs.  Featherstone,  he  could  do  it  well — 
as  good  as  any  professional  I  ever  saw.  While  he  was  dancing 
and  singing  he  kept  rolling  his  eyes  at  the  officers  and  I  tell  you, 
those  were  eyes,  too.  While  he  was  singing  General  Longstreet 
said  to  one  of  the  officers,  'God,  but  those  are  pretty  Irish  eyes. 
I  have  read  of  just  such  pretty  eyes  as  those  in  books.'  When 
he  had  finished  dancing  and  singing  he  leaned  up  against  Gen- 
eral Longstreet  and  said,  'Mister,  it's  mesilf  that's  tired.'  The 
General  said,  'Little  one.  you  must  be  tired,  for  vou  have  worked 
hard  to  please  us.  Xow,  you  rest  here  with  me  and  my  officers 
will  send  out  men  to  see  if  your  father  can  be  found.'  After  the 
little  chap  had  rested  a  while  the  General  ordered  some  more 
coffee  for  him  and  when  the  Little  ( )ne  had  drunk  it  the  General 
asked  him  if  he  could  sing  'Kathleen  Mavoureen'  and  said.  'That 
is  one  of  my  favorite  songs,  little  boy.'  The  little  chap  then 
said,  'Ach.  and  its  mesilf.  General,  that  knows  everv  word  of  it.' 
Then  the  General  said.  'Sit  here  on  my  knee  and  sing  it  for  us.' 
The  Little  (  hie,  quicker  than  you  can  say  it.  was  on  the  General's 
knee,  when  the  General  said,  'Hoy.  but  vou  are  quick.'  'Sure, 
and  if  you've  traveled  as  far  as  I  have  it's  a  lift  you'd  be  takin' 
once  in  a  while,  yoursilf.'  lie  sang  'Kathleen  Mavoureen'  and 
when  he  had  finished  I  saw  the  General  was  a  changed  man. 
He  clasped  the  little  boy  to  his  breast,  kissed  him  and  said.  'You 
must  live  here  with  me  and  become  my  boy.' 

He  requested  all  the  officers  to  withdraw  from  his  quarters, 
as   he   wished   to   be    left    alone    with   the   b'>v.      That    nii/lit.    Mr-. 


42          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Featherstone,  the  boy  escaped,  taking  Longstreet's  most  valua- 
ble papers,  and  now  he  offers  $10,000  reward  for  his  capture. 
If  you  will  give  him  into  my  hand  I  will  divide  the  money  with 
you."  An  evil  influence  then  arose  in  my  heart.  I  would  be- 
tray him,  thinking  he  would  be  taken  back  and  shot.  I  would 
get  half  the  money,  then  I  would  escape  and  get  inside  the  Union 
lines ;  there  I  would  inquire  for  Mr.  Warren.  When  I  would 
find  him  I  would  tell  him  of  the  death  of  his  beloved  one,  which 
would  be  a  revenge  to  me  to  see  him  weep  and  moan  for  the  one 
he  loved  so  much.  Then  I  would  play  the  part  of  a  comforter 
and  grieve  with  him  until  I  would  win  him  over  to  me.  I  know 
it  was  a  treacherous  part  to  play,  but  my  life  belonged  to  him. 
I  said  to  the  officer,  "Come,  Mr.  Williams,  I  will  show  you  where 
he  is  concealed."  But  lo,  when  we  got  there  he  had  flown  into 
the  night  and  old  Aunt  Judy  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  cabin 
like  a  black  priestess.  When  I  entered  the  cabin  she  shook  her 
long  black  bony  hand  at  me  and  said,  "Woe,  woe  be  unto  that 
woman  who  has  got  no  secret  in  dat  heart,  but  would  betray 
one  ob  Massa  Lincoln's  angels  who  is  tryin'  to  free  de  black 
folks.  Woe,  woe,  dat  punishment  is  near  at  hand,  and  I  reckon 
you  low  trash,  it's  goin'  to  come  soon,  if  old  Aunt  Judy  can  read 
signs.  When  I  looked  at  dat  ar  moon  yister  night  and  de  black 
cat  laid  her  head  aginst  me,  I  said  to  old  Pete,  'Dar's  trouble  a 
comin'  on  to  dis  yar  plantation.'  Now  go,  go,  woman,  for  youse 
de  Jezebel  dat  de  Bible  talks  on.  Jes  as  soon  as  I  sees  dese  yar 
soldiers  comin'  up  I  went  an  wake  de  little  one.  I  says,  'Git  up, 
honey  lamb,  dey  would  slaughter  you  before  de  altar  ob  de 
Lord.  Now  light  out,  and  my  Sukey  will  show  you  de  bes'  way 
to  get  to  Father  Linkum's  men.'  Here  I  is,  hossifer,  if  youse 
want  to  make  a  sacrifice  to  Jeff  Davis,  take  ole  Aunt  Judy  and 
slaughter  her  up  as  a  peace  offerin',  and  her  soul  will  go  on 
singin'  until  she  gets  right  into  Jesus'  arms  and  rest  dar  for  de 
rest  ob  her  life."  The  men  then  left  the  cabin  and  said  they 
would  push  on  after  him  and  perhaps  capture  him  before  he 
reached  the  Union  lines.  Just  then  old  Aunt  Judy  screamed  at 
the  top  of  her  voice,  "You  sons  of  Belial,  hell's  a  waitin'  for  ye  ; 
tote  dis  old  she  devil  along  wid  you,  for  dat's  all  de  good  she  is." 
She  meant  me  when  she  said  that. 

At  four  o'clock  that  morning1  our  house  was  in  flames.     It 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  43 

was  burned  to  the  ground,  we  escaping  only  in  our  night  clothes. 
We  discovered  that  all  the  negro  cabins  were  on  fire.  We  saw 
the  negroes  coming  to  where  we  stood,  waving  sticks  and  cry- 
ing out,  "The  curse  of  God  has  fallen  upon  you  poor  sinners." 
Aunt  Judy  spoke  the  last  word,  saying,  "You  low  down  white 
trash,  de  curse  and  wrath  ob  de  Lamb  of  Christ  have  come  upon 
you  through  ole  Aunt  Judy,"  and  with  that  they  all  gave  a 
scream,  singing  out,  "We'se  a  comin',"  and  lighting  out  for  the 
Union  lines. 

After  the  war  was  over,  in  1867,  I  went  to  pay  a  visit  to  an 
aunt  that  lived  in  Washington.  While  I  was  walking  down  F 
street  one  afternoon  I  noticed  two  negresses  coming  up  the  street. 
One  of  them  was  tall  and  raw  boned  and  put  me  in  mind  of  old 
Aunt  Judy.  When  I  came  close  to  them  I  discovered  it 
was  she  and  her  daughter  Sukey.  I  thought  I  would  hold  out 
the  hand  of  friendship  towards  them.  Aunt  Judy  struck  it  one 
side  and  spit  at  me,  saying,  "You  low-down  Tennessee  trash 
who  had  to  come  to  \Virginny  to  get  something  to  eat,  who 
never  could  keep  a  secret  in  her  heart,  but  here's  old  Aunt  Judy 
who's  got  a  secret,  and  jes  knows  how  to  keep  it,  too.  You  low 
down  Tennessee  mud  suckin'  trash,"  and  with  that  she  blew 
her  nose  and  threw  the  vile  contents  clown  on  my  dress ;  threw 
her  head  into  the  air  and  walked  off  with  the  vilest  contempt 
that  I  ever  saw  shown  to  a  human  being.  You  can  imagine,  sir, 
how  humiliated  I  felt  to  have  this  common  negro  woman  treat 
me  with  such  disdain  and  contempt  right  on  one  of  Washing- 
ton's streets — she  who  had  been  a  slave  to  my  sister  and  waited 
on  me  at  one  time  hand  and  foot,  and  had  to  obey  all  my  com- 
mands. The  insult  was  so  great  I  wanted  to  die  right  there. 
Perhaps,  sir,  I  deserved  it  all.  I  betrayed  this  medium  twice 
and  my  punishment  awaited  me  in  spirit  life.  Oh,  sir.  but  it  is 
hard  to  bear.  That  is  why  I.  Violet  Campbell,  come  here  today 
to  make  a  confession.  Do  not  think  that  you  escape  punishment, 
for  every  wrong  deed  you  commit  there  is  punishment  awaiting 
you.  I  ask  Justin's  forgiveness  for  the  wrongs  I  did  him  or  her. 
Mr.  Warren's  manly  form  tempted  me  and  I  fell.  I  dreamed  of 
him  by  night  and  thought  of  him  by  day.  and  my  whole  hope 
and  wish  was  that  I  might  become  his  mistress.  I  never  poss- 
essed the  power  to  wring  his  heart  with  anguish  when  I  would 


44          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

tell  him  of  the  death  of  his  loved  one,  how  I  saw  him  shot  down 
as  a  spy.  Oh  God,  it  never  came  to  pass,  and  I  was  left  to  my 
own  reflection,  a  wicked  woman. 

One  day  in  the  year  1868  in  the  month  of  April  I  was  walk- 
ing along  Arch  street,  Philadelphia,  when  I  saw  coming  towards 
me  Mr.  \Yarren  and  Justin.  I  had  changed  a  good  deal,  but  yet 
Justin  knew  me.  He  held  out  his  hand  to  shake  hands  with  me 
when  Mr.  \Yarren  stepped  between  us,  saying,  "Madam,  go  your 
way ;  you  shall  not  touch  the  hand  of  my  Little  One,  whom  you 
were  willing  to  give  up  to  the  vengeance  of  a  rebel  general,  you 
dirty  harlot."  He  then  spit  at  me.  Taking  little  Justin  by  the 
hand  they  went  on  their  way.  Little  Justin  looked  around  with 
a  sad  expression  on  his  face  in  which  I  saw  volumes  of  pity  and 
forgiveness.  Oh,  God,  but  my  punishment  was  hard  to  bear. 
I  was  trying  to  make  my  living  as  a  seamstress  in  Philadelphia. 
It  was  hard  to  make,  as  I  had  been  accustomed  to  luxury  and 
slaves  to  wait  upon  me.  Xow  I  was  reduced  to  want  and  pov- 
erty, and  sought  the  streets  at  night  lor  a  rescue  and  a  way  to 
make  a  living.  I  had  become  an  abandoned  woman. 

One  Friday  night  while  it  was  raining,  I  passed  near  by  the 
theatre  where  Justin  was  playing  and  fortunately  I  met  him 
coming  forth  from  the  stage  entrance  alone.  As  he  came  tow- 
ards me  I  tried  to  hide  my  face.  He  recognized  me  and  said, 
"Oh,  Violet  Campbell — it  is  surely  you."  I  said,  "Justin,  surely 
you  don't  want  to  speak  to  me."  He  said,  "Surely  I  do,  Violet; 
come  with  me  and  tell  me  what  has  happened  to  you.  I  know 
a  place  where  we  can  be  qtiiet  and  we  can  get  something  to  eat. 
Then  you  can  tell  me  all  you  wish  to — that  which  you  have  no 
desire  to  tell,  keep  to  yourself.  Violet.  It's  no  one's  business, 
but  your  own,  and  to  God  alone  have  you  only  a  right  to  tell 
that  which  is  a  secret  in  your  heart."  After  I  had  told  him  most 
everything  he  took  out  his  purse  and  gave  me  $15  saying,  "Xow 
Violet,  go  home,  wake  up  tomorrow  morning  a  different  wo- 
man. There  is  going  to  come  a  turn  in  your  life.  I  am  going 
to  furnish  you  work  at  decent  wages,  so  that  you  can  live  a 
respectable  life,  and  some  of  the  Violet  Campbell  of  young  days 
will  come  back  and  we  will  laugh  and  sing  together  again."  I 
said,  "lint  where  is  Mr.  Warren:  why  does  he  not  come  after 
you?"  "Violet,  he  does  not  come  out  at  night,  he  is  sickly,  the 


VIOLET  CAMPBELL  45 

army  life  ruined  his  health  and  Oh,  Violet,  I  am  so  happy  when 
I  go  home  at  night  and  see  his  kind  face  waiting  for  me.  Vio- 
let, you  loved  him,  too — don't  feel  ashamed  to  tell  it — you  love 
him  now,  and  I  will  give  you  his  picture,  that  you  may  have  it 
in  your  room  to  look  at.  Some  time  I  will  walk  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street :  I  will  have  him  with  me  so  yon  may  look  at 
him.  I  will  arrange  it  so  that  he  will  walk  next  to  the  curb 
stone."  I  said,  "Oh,  God,  what  kind  of  a  creature  are  you?  This 
man  that  you  and  I  love  so — you  will  give  me  his  picture  to 
look  at,  and  to  think  that  you  will  assist  this  wrecked  soul  to 
become  what  the  world  calls  a  virtuous  woman."  "Violet,  your 
soul  is  not  wrecked,  it  is  only  the  material  body  that  became 
weak  and  fell  under  the  eyes  of  a  handsome  man.  \Ye  are  not 
the  only  two  souls  who  have  loved  the  same  man,  and  must  only 
give  an  account  to  God  alone.  Xow  I  want  to  be  a  sister  and 
a  brother  to  you.  Promise  me  that  you  will  become  an  honest 
woman."  I  took  an  oath,  and  thank  God  I  kept  it  to  the  last. 
He  provided  me  with  work  and  paid  me  well.  He  arranged  so 
that  I  died  in  Mr.  \Yarren's  arms  at  the  last.  This  is  my  con- 
fession. Hoping  that  the  great  God  of  all  will  forgive,  in  time. 
Violet  Campbell. 

I  thank  you.  sir.  for  taking  down  my  communication,  and 
leave  my  love  for  Justin.  I  know  your  fingers  must  be  tired. 
Good  dav.  sir. 


Johann  of  Arc 

Chapter  IV 


Tuesday,  September  3,  1901. 

Good  morning,  sir.  Your  air  is  beautiful  here,  it  is  so  pure 
and  sweet.  I  think  your  home  is  located  in  a  beautiful  spot — 
surrounded  by  all  those  gorgeous  looking  mountains.  It  looks 
to  me  like  a  beautiful  nest,  located  under  these  beautiful  oak 
trees,  where  a  mother  could  raise  all  her  little  fledgelings  in 
safety  away  from  the  enemies  of  the  world.  Nature  was  bounti- 
ful in  giving  her  grand,  invigorating  air  to  this  spot  that  I  call 
the  "Home  of  Truth,"  where  ministering  angels  can  come  and 
go  at  will.  This  is  the  abode  that  will  invigorate  a  healthy  mind 
and  bring  it  en  rapport  with  the  ideals  of  life  so  that  they  can 
unfold  and  manifest  that  eternity  has  no  beginning  and  no  end. 
I,  Johann  of  Arc,  know  of  no  beginning,  neither  does  she  under- 
stand of  any  ending.  All  is  life  and  animation ;  it  is  the  con- 
stant unfoldment  and  working  out  of  destiny. 

The  French  historian  gave  me  the  name  of  "Joan  of  Arc," 
but  I  was  christened  "Johann  of  Arc."  I  was  what  you  would 
call  a  lazy  child,  very  slow  of  speech  and  more  so  of  action.  I 
was  one  that  lived  upon  the  ground  a  great  deal,  and  liked  to 
come  in  touch  with  mother  earth  and  feel  the  soil  passing  through 
my  fingers. 

Close  by  my  parents'  home  were  a  number  of  large  trees. 
I  never  had  the  desire  to  climb  either  one  of  them,  as  other  child- 
ren would  do.  There  was  one  large  tree  that  was  nearer  to  our 
home  than  the  others;  that  one  was  my  favorite.  I  would  lie 
upon  the  ground  under  its  beautiful  shady  branches  and  listen 
to  the  invisible  voices.  The  other  children  called  me  the  dream- 
er, and  sometimes  when  they  would  prevail  upon  me  to  go  nut 
gathering  I  would  walk  so  slow  that  they  would  say,  "Johann, 


JOHANN   OF  ARC  47 

we  will  go  ahead  and  you  can  follow."  Sometimes  I  would  find 
the  place  where  they  were  gathering  the  nuts,  and  at  other  times 
would  not.  I  would  on  some  occasions  become  weary  and  tired, 
then  I  would  lie  down.  It  is  then  I  would  hear  the  spirit  voices. 
Sometimes  when  I  would  reach  home  it  would  be  dark.  As  I 
entered  the  door  of  our  hut  my  mother  would  address  me,  say- 
ing, "You  lazy  baggage,  where  have  you  been?"  That  is  the 
way  you  would  express  it  in  English. 

Our  home  was  a  small  one ;  it  was  built  from  stones  picked 
up  in  the  field,  plastered  inside  and  outside  with  mud.  Our 
floor  was  made  of  clay  beaten  down  hard  while  in  a  wet  condi- 
tion, so  that  when  it  became  dry  it  was  solid.  The  house  had  a 
thatched  roof,  covered  with  some  kind  of  substance  that  had  the 
condition  of  pine  in  it,  and  this  kept  out  the  rain  or  dampness 
of  any  kind.  My  people  were  very  poor  and  lived  in  a  primi- 
tive, crude  condition.  Our  home  consisted  of  two  rooms,  a  liv- 
ing room  and  one  in  which  my  father  and  mother  slept.  Bed- 
steads were  unknown  in  the  part  of  the  country  in  which  I 
lived.  They  were  bunks  fastened  to  the  wall,  dried  leaves  and 
grass  were  placed  over  the  under  poles  to  quite  a  thickness, 
which  made  it  soft  and  pleasant  to  sleep  on.  As  a  general  thing 
the  leaves  would  be  covered  by  the  skin  of  a  deer  or  some  other 
animal.  My  little  brother  slept  in  the  same  bunk  with  father 
and  mother.  Those  bunks  were  made  long  enough  so  that  a 
child  could  sleep  at  the  parent's  feet.  I  went  up  a  ladder  in  the 
living  room  to  a  little  loft  over  the  sleeping  room  and  slept  on 
dried  grass  and  leaves  up  there.  \Yhen  all  had  gone  to  bed  and 
the  home  was  quiet  I  felt  happy  up  in  the  little  loft.  Then  I 
would  hear  children's  voices  that  would  come  and  sing  to  me 
of  the  beautiful  spirit  world.  Oh,  how  happy  I  would  lie  then. 
After  they  had  got  done  singing  I  would  hear  a  voice  say  to  me. 
''Johann,  some  day  the  world  will  hear  of  you."  It  seemed  to 
me  then  it  was  a  great  secret  they  were  confiding  to  me.  I  kept 
it  locked  up  in  my  heart,  but  there  came  a  time  when  I  had  to 
reveal  it  to  my  parents,  and  also  to  others.  I  never  had  any 
education,  for  there  was  no  school  in  the  part  of  the  country 
where  we  lived.  \Ye  were  not  a  highly  civilized  race  of  people, 
but  crude,  coarse  and  ignorant.  1  never  saw  a  book  until  I  was 
eighteen  years  old,  and  it  was  a  great  curiosity  to  me.  I  looked 


48          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

upon  the  woman  who  was  the  owner  of  it  with  surprise  and 
wondered  how  she  could  talk  out  of  that  thing.  I  watched  her 
as  she  read  and  turned  the  pages,  thinking  to  myself,  that  must 
be  an  angel  talking,  and  wondered  how  she  came  to  possess  it. 
One  night  I  laid  upon  the  bed  thinking  about  the  woman  read- 
ing the  book  when  a  voice  said  to  me,  "Johann,  that  woman  shall 
be  your  friend,  for  she  is  a  scholar  and  a  lady."  I  wondered 
what  a  scholar  was,  never  having  heard  the  word  before.  The 
voice  said.  "She  understands  a  great  many  things  about  the 
outside  world,  for  she  is  constantly  reading  about  what  is  going 
on."  I  said  to  the  voice,  "Shall  I  ever  learn  to  read  like  her?" 
The  voice  said,  "Xo,  you  do  not  require  books.  Y\  e  will  educate 
you  and  when  we  have  finished  our  work  through  you,  then 
you  are  through  with  that  body."  Alas,  this  came  true. 

\\  hen  I  was  a  young  person  living  at  my  parents'  home — 
I'ut  first  let  me  tell  you  when  I  \vas  possibly  about  the  age  of 
six  my  mother  did  not  know  whether  she  would  raise  me  as  a 
boy  or  a  girl,  I  being  very  masculine  and  having  dull  eyes,  but 
my  father  decided  he  would  like  a  daughter  and  they  raised  me 
as  a  girl.  I  never  had  any  girlish  ways,  nor  did  I  ever  play  with 
a  doll  like  other  little  girls.  There  was  located  in  my  make-up 
both  male  and  female,  the  male  predominating.  I  liked  boys 
and  boy's  ways.  A\  hen  I  grew  to  be  a  young  maid,  as  people 
called  it,  the  young  men  came  to  court  me  and  would  use  loving 
words  when  the}'  addressed  me.  They  would  say,  "Johann,  I 
like  you  very  much  and  speak  of  other  endearments  such  as 
young  men  do  to  young  maidens.  One  day  a  young  man  that 
bore  the  name  of  lleinrich  Dorio  came  to  me  and  taking  my 
hand,  said  to  me,  "Johann.  I  love  you  and  I  want  to  make  you 
my  wife."  My  male  nature  drew  me  up  to  my  full  height,  which 
was  not  so  very  tall.  I  addressed  myself  to  him,  saying,  "Hein- 
rich,  if  you  ever  sav  that  to  me  again  I  will  kill  you."  He  said, 
"Johann.  what  do  you  mean;  don't  you  intend  to  get  married?" 
"Xever  to  a  man.  My  nature  loves  a  girl."  He  laughed  and 
went  off.  telling  other  young  men  and  girls  that  T  was  crazy. 

Xow.  sir.  I  will  tell  you  something,  perhaps,  that  you  do 
not  understand  and  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  that 
are  living  in  the  world  do  not  understand  to  this  day.  with  all 
its  boasted  civilization.  The  male  nature  was  so  stronsf  in  me 


JOHANN   OF  ARC  49 

that  I  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  young  maiden  and  wooed 
and  won  her  for  myself  and  we  lived  together  as  man  and  wife. 
French  history  does  not  tell  you  this.  I  was  a  male  spirit  that 
had  taken  on  a  female  body  for  an  experience  in  life.  Those 
that  ridicule  this  and  say  it  cannot  be,  do  not  understand  what 
they  are  talking  about.  Their  ignorance  of  the  divine  law  of 
nature  put  it  beyond  their  comprehension.  I  am  now,  today, 
acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  female  influence.  I  controled  the 
condition  of  the  Indian  spirit  that  is  living  her  life  through  the 
medium's  guide  who  bears  the  name  of  Rosa,  whose  proper  name 
is  Water  Lily.  She  has  placed  herself  in  this  condition  to  work 
out  and  expiate  for  crimes  that  she  committed  in  her  past  life. 
This  Rosa  and  myself  came  in  rapport  with  the  medium  when 
she  was  ushered  into  life.  She  is  also  working  out  a  condition 
in  her  life  for  past  crimes  that  she  committed.  She  has  taken 
upon  herself  a  male  body  but  the  female  predominates  so  strongly 
that  the  male  part  of  it  is  a  failure.  In  this  way,  sir,  I  will  ex- 
plain it  to  you.  The  female  is  so  strong  in  her  condition  that  her 
love  is  still  for  the  male  sex.  All  the  male  portion  that  came  in 
this  embodiment  is  only  the  masculine  expression,  and  in  that 
you  can  see  the  female  lips,  the  female  eyes  and  the  female  laugh, 
even  the  hands,  feet  and  the  body  is  a  failure,  when  it  comes  to 
the  form  of  a  man. 

Now,  I  will  give  a  description  of  my  makeup.  French  his- 
tory describes  me  as  tall,  beautiful,  graceful  and  commanding- 
like.  They  say,  I  had  the  look  of  some  goddess ;  that  I  was  the 
possessor  of  a  luster  in  my  eyes ;  that  when  I  looked  upon  people 
they  humbled  themselves  before  me.  It  was  nothing  of  the  kind 
— that  is  all  a  falsehood  and  a  misrepresentation  of  my  appear- 
ance. I  was  low-sized — what  you  would  call  squatty.  My  corr- 
plexion  was  dark  and  swarthy.  I  had  a  large  mouth  and  flat 
nose,  dull  eyes,  dark  hair  with  a  tawny  look  to  it.  There  was 
none  of  that  brilliant  appearance  to  me  that  this  medium  pos- 
sessed in  the  prime  of  life,  and  which  has  not  altogether  passed 
away.  As  I  still  see  there  is  a  luster  left  to  the  eye  which  I 
never  possessed.  My  great  grandfather  was  a  Moor,  and  on 
my  mother's  side  there  is  Spanish  blood.  \Ye  are  what  you  call 
French — dark  and  swarthy.  How  little  the  medical  fraternity 
knows  of  our  sex.  It  seems  a  mockerv  to  mention  their  name  in 


50          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

connection  with  our  condition ;  but  it  is  time  that  the  civilized 
world  should  know  that  such  individuals  inhabit  bodies.  Many 
of  our  sex  are  very  beautiful,  especially  those  where  the  female 
predominates.  They  fall  in  love  with  men  and  men  fall  in  love 
with  them.  They  marry  and  live  together  as  man  and  wife. 
They  go  to  some  foundling  institution  and  adopt  one  or  two 
children.  Then  they  remove  to  a  strange  city  and  they  give 
out  to  the  neighborhood  that  those  children  are  theirs.  Jennie 
Lament,  the  great  circus  rider — the  most  daring  woman 
ever  known  on  a  bareback  horse — her  riding  was  so  daring  that 
every  night  some  of  the  people  were  afraid  she  would  break  her 
neck.  She  was  of  our  sex — the  female  predominating — and  she 
was  very  beautiful  to  look  at.  The  circus  proprietor  married 
her  and  made  her  his  wife.  They  are  now  living  in  retirement  at 
Nice  in  France.  Both  of  them  are  over  eighty  years  old  and  well 
to  do. 

I  give  you  this  little  illustration,  so  that  you  may  understand 
(hose  that  come  into  the  world  in  a  body,  at  some  part  of  their 
life  the  world  hears  from  them,  just  as  they  did  from  this 
medium  and  others  of  the  sex.  He  has  been  entertained  by  the 
highest  of  all  nations.  When  he  visited  London,  England, 
Queen  Victoria  entertained  him  or  her,  as  you  choose  to  call  it. 
in  a  royal  manner.  She  knew  of  this  child  and  understood  there 
was  what  you  call  royal  blood  in  his  veins.  She  kept  it  a  secret, 
knowing  all  the  while  there  had  been  such  a  child  born  into  the 
world.  That  is  why  her  gifts  were  rich  and  precious.  He  had 
been  entertained  by  several  of  the  presidents  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  loved  by  President  Lincoln  for  his  mediumship 
and  other  conditions.  When  he  was  young  and  lived  with  Gen- 
eral Warren  he  was  what  you  would  call  beautiful  and  I  might 
as  well  mention  here  that  men  raved  over  that  beauty.  Many  a 
senator  and  congressman  vied  with  each  other  in  throwing 
flowers  to  this  individual  and  sending  many  valuable  presents 
to  her  rooms  at  the  hotel.  At  one  time  during  her  life  her  dia- 
monds were  valuable,  as  she  possessed  many  of  the  rich  gems. 

Xow,  sir.  I  will  go  back  and  deal  with  my  own  life.  When 
I  was  a  young  woman,  as  the  world  was  allowed  to  call  me.  I 
was  sitting  under  my  favorite  tree  and  received  a  terrible  shock 
as  if  strong  electricity  was  passing  through  all  the  conditions  of 


JOHANN   OF  ARC  51 

my  body.  I  was  thrown  into  a  terrible  condition  of  perspiration 
— every  part  of  my  body  seemed  to  be  burning  up  with  fever. 
When  I  heard  a  loud  voice  speaking  to  me  which  sounded  coarse 
and  cruel.  The  voice  said,  "Now,  Johann,  the  time  has  come 
when  the  world  shall  hear  of  you.  France  has  become  an  im- 
poverished nation  and  the  enemy  are  invading  her  beautiful 
land.  She  has  been  ruined  and  the  poor  have  been  ground  down 
and  held  like  slaves  to  pay  the  immense  debt  of  a  worthless  king 
who  is  low,  licentious  and  brutal.  His  whole  life  has  been  one  of 
riotous  living  and,  in  connection  with  his  concubines,  he  has 
ruined  the  nation.  He  is  a  low  brute,  living  in  a  human  form. 
Brutality  and  licentiousness  is  expressed  in  every  lineament  of 
his  face.  He  gets  drunk  and  his  brutal  and  licentious  carousing 
with  his  low  concubines  lasts  away  into  the  morning.  He  turns 
day  into  night  and  night  into  day.  Now,  to  save  beautiful  La 
Belle  France  we  must  drive  the  enemy  from  her  shores.  Johann 
you  will  go  forth  to  battle  and  I  will  give  you  the  commands 
and  you  can  give  them  to  others,  so  that  they  will  be  put  into 
force  and  be  executed."  I  said  to  the  voice,  "Who  is  this  person 
that  speaks  thus?"  The  voice  said,  "Xo  matter  now.  You  will 
know  when  your  work  has  been  carried  out  and  finished."  Alas! 
I  discovered  who  it  was  when  my  work  was  finished.  I  dis- 
covered it  was  the  brutal  Xero  who  gloated  on  human  gore  and 
when  we  heard  the  shrieks  and  cries  of  the  wounded  and  dying 
I  could  hear  the  voice  laughing  at  the  suffering  and  misery  of 
these  poor  creatures.  I  begged  this  cruel  voice  to  let  me  go,  for 
my  heart  had  become  sick  at  the  suffering  and  carnage  of  battle 
all  around  me.  It  just  seemed  as  if  France  would  become  a 
charnal  house  for  the  bones  of  the  dead.  ( )h.  God,  sir,  it  was 
something  terrible  to  witness  the  condition  of  poor  La  Belle 
France  and  her  starving  and  poorlv-clad  army.  Many  a  time 
the  tears  coursed  down  my  face  when  I  heard  the  cries  of  the 
suffering  and  aching  hearts  of  poor  women  and  children  who 
were  almost  starving  for  the  want  of  food.  I  kept  begging  and 
begging  the  voice  to  let  me  go.  The  answer  was.  "Xo:  you 
shall  go  on  to  the  end  and  until  it  is  all  finished,  and  then  we 
will  release  you."  and  thev  did  as  they  had  promised.  They  re- 
leased me  bv  burning  mv  bodv  at  the  stake.  That  was  my  re- 
ward for  it  all. 


52 

Now,  the  Catholic  Church  canonizes  me  and  calls  me  Saint 
Joan.  Oh !  what  a  mockery  in  the  name  of  religion.  This  same 
Catholic  Church  is  nothing  but  a  house  of  pagan  religion,  where 
they  worship  idols  and  still  perpetuate  pagan  ceremonies.  All 
their  religion  is  stolen  from  Oriental  customs  with  the  intro- 
duction of  modern  priests  who  live  on  the  best  of  the  land  and 
keep  the  poor  people  in  ignorance  of  the  inside  workings  of 
their  religion.  This  is  a  curse  to  any  nation  that  is  controlled 
by  it.  They  are  the  poorest  and  most  degraded  of  all  nations  in 
the  world.  Ignorance  and  poverty  are  in  the  majority  of  all 
their  conditions.  I  thank  God  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  people,  through  elevation,  will  arise  en  masse  and  burn  down 
their  convents  and  monasteries  and  will  drive  the  inmates  with 
their  mummeries  to  all  parts  of  the  globe.  Oh,  I  tell  you,  sir, 
there  is  going  to  be  a  big  revolution  in  religion.  As  schools  go 
up  and  progress  and  the  minds  of  the  people  will  become  intel- 
ligent and  expand  in  breadth  of  liberality,  then  people  will  think 
for  themselves.  Churches  and  their  mummery  will  slide  down 
the  hill  and  be  swallowed  up  in  a  volcano  of  high  civilization. 
History  says  that  when  I  rode  upon  my  horse  into  battle  I  sat 
straight  and  erect  and  my  eyes  took  in  the  whole  situation  at 
one  glance.  That  is  not  so.  I  sat  upon  that  horse  like  an 
automaton  or  a  wooden  figure,  as  you  would  call  it.  I  heard 
the  commands  and  gave  them  to  others.  My  voice  was  of  low 
speech,  so  you  see  I  did  not,  as  history  describes,  call  out  my 
commands  in  a  loud,  powerful  voice.  I  gave  them  in  a  quiet 
manner  to  the  officers  who  were  in  command.  They  called  them 
out  in  a  loud  voice  to  their  men.  History  says  I  was  dressed  in 
a  beautiful  tunic,  all  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver.  In  front 
of  my  helmet  was  set  a  large  precious  jewel,  and  that  my  beau- 
tiful, light  brown  hair  hung  down  below  my  waist  and  was  the 
admiration  of  all  the  officers  and  soldiers.  Now,  sir,  let  me  tell 
you  that  is  a  straight  lie  from  beginning  to  end.  They  said  that 
I  rode  on  a  beautiful  white  horse.  The  horse  that  I  rode  was 
dark  dun  color.  It  was  neither  of  a  bay  nor  a  sorrel,  but  of  a 
very  gentle  disposition,  and  I  became  very  much  attached  to  it. 
It  acted  as  if  it  was  proud  to  carry  me  on  its  back.  France  was 
too  poor  then  to  give  me  abeautiful  white  tunic  all  embroidered 
with  gold  and  silver  ornaments. 


JOHANN   OF  ARC 

I  will  now  describe  the  manner  of  dress  I  wore.  It  was  a 
dark  blue  cotton  tunic  of  very  cheap  material,  lined  inside  with 
rabbit  skin.  My  legs  were  encased  in  cow  skin  leggings,  laced 
up  with  strips  of  deer  skin.  My  shoes  were  made  of  horse  hide 
without  being  tanned,  for  the  hair  was  still  on  the  hide.  They 
were  made  of  two  pieces,  very  much  like  an  Indian  moccasin. 
They  were  long  and  pointed — being  of  the  fashion  that  a  poor 
peasant  wore  at  that  time.  My  hair  was  coarse  and  dark — al- 
most as  you  would  say,  like  the  hair  of  a  Moor.  In  a  certain 
light  it  had  a  kind  of  tawny  shade  to  it  which  made  it  look  al- 
most of  a  dark,  dull  red.  I  wore  no  helmet  upon  my  head,  but  a 
small  fur  hat  that  my  mother  made  for  me  to  wear  in  battle. 
So  you  see,  sir,  I  was  not  dressed  dashing,  neither  did  I  have  that 
striking  appearance  that  history  claims  I  had.  They  have  raised 
a  monument  to  me  which  represents  me  as  a  tall,  erect,  beauti- 
ful woman,  fashioned  and  formed  like  an  amazon.  I  looked  like 
a  female  God  of  war,  when  I  was  only  a  low,  squatty  individual 
— an  organization  formed  and  fashioned  for  spirit  power  to  play 
upon.  I  suppose  the  Church  will  claim  me  now  to  be  a  beautiful 
spirit  saint. 

I  expect  to  be  painted  next  in  looks  to  the  Madonna  herself, 
so  that  the  deluded  minds  may  gaze  upon  the  picture  and  see 
what  a  wonderful  being  I  have  been.  Alas !  alas !  Credulity, 
thou  art  the  destroyer  of  the  human  mind,  and  you  compel  the 
human  intellect  to  become  a  dreamer  of  imagination.  I  long 
pray  for  the  day  when  people  will  be  permitted  to  stand  upon 
their  own  merits  and  the  world  will  see  them  and  view  them  from 
a  truthful  standpoint  in  life.  Now,  sir,  I  wish  to  express  myself 
in  the  part  that  I  play  in  connection  with  the  medium.  I  am  the 
one  you  call  Rosa,  for  which  I  will  give  you  an  explanation.  I 
am  the  duality  of  the  dual  nature — the  one  you  call  Rosa  is  work- 
ing out  her  condition  for  past  crimes  committed  while  in  the 
body.  She  is  living  her  life  through  the  medium.  There  is  a 
Chippewa  Indian  girl  who  is  living  her  life  through  Rosa.  That 
is  why  Rosa  is  attracted  to  everything  that  is  gaudy  and  of  high 
color.  I  have  been  with  the  medium  ever  since  his  individuality 
was  ushered  in  or  located  in  the  womb  of  the  mother  when  she 
took  the  male  condition  upon  her  and  was  ushered  into  life 
through  the  process  of  a  physical  birth.  I  have  been  the  guar- 


54          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

dian  and  protector.  I  am  principal  intelligence  of  the  condition 
through  which  I  guide  her.  I  act  upon  the  Indian  girl,  also  upon 
Rosa  and  the  medium.  I  am  the  fountain  head  of  their  actions, 
so  that  you  can  see  that  I  live  my  life  through  them  and  in  reality 
I  am  the  guide.  I  am  the  one  that  visits  your  circles  and  compels 
Rosa  to  act  for  me.  I  was  the  controlling  instrument  that  guided 
the  medium  through  the  war.  I  conducted  him  through  and  in- 
side of  the  Rebel  lines,  taking  care  that  he  got  back  safely  inside 
of  the  Union  lines.  The  voice  of  George  Washington  gave  his 
commands  to  the  medium  and  I  saw  that  they  were  carried  out 
to  the  letter.  I  compelled  the  medium  to  fulfil  everything,  as  the 
spirit  of  General  George  Washington  requested.  Your  medium 
lived  in  a  dream,  as  it  were,  during  the  whole  rebellion.  That  is 
why  you  have  the  individual  with  you  today  so  that  you  can  listen 
to  the  higher  teachings  of  spirit  existence.  Thank  God,  re- 
embodiment  is  a  truth  and  those  that  mock  and  laugh  at  it  do 
so  because  their  ignorance  will  not  permit  them  to  understand 
that  which  they  mock.  "He  that  laughs  last  laughs  best." 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  taking  down  my  communication,  and 
hope  that  the  medium's  health  will  permit  a  condition  that  can 
be  prepared  for  other  communications  that  are  to  follow.  Wish- 
ing you  good  day,  and  God  bless  you.  You  will  have  to  live  a 
little  while  longer  in  the  harness.  Your  friend  and  well-wisher, 
Johann  of  Arc,  and  not  Joan,  as  history  has  it. 


Amanda  Hulburd  to  Her  Children 

Chapter    V 

Children,   God  is   in  His  Holy  Temple. 

The  great  created  life  in  universe, 

Which  nothing  in  nature's  laws  can  reverse. 

He  is  the  soul  in  atom  of  eternal  life, 

Constantly  ministering  to  man  and  wife. 

And  as  eyery  rose  bud  drinks  in  the  sun, 

So  did  my  child  Hannah,  when  her  life  begun. 

God  was  in  her  whole  expression — 

I  saw  she  had  from  truth  learned  her  lession 

And  grew  up  under  the  temple  of  eternal  life, 

As  she  one  day  became  a  wedded  wife. 

I  come  back  with  my  love  to  her,  as  I  do  to  you  all, 

So  the  great  God  does  not  permit  even  a  sparrow  to  fall. 

The  human  mind  is  easy  to  tempt, 

When  the  ear  to  perishing  infidelity  is  lent. 

But  the  soul  that  drinks  in  eternal  truth. 

Will  become  a  gleaner  in  the  field,  like  Ruth ; 

For  nothing  can  fall  in   the  sight  of  God — 

Not  even  the  base  tempter's  rod 

That   he   may  point  at  man   with   scorn. 

Because  you  were  all  created  in  God,  before  born. 

For  life   is   eternal,   proved   beyond   death. 

As  ye  receive  each  day  from  God  your  vital  breath. 

Now,  my  boys  that  are  still  in  human  form, 

Do  not  even  the  least  of  God's  specks  scorn — 

As  all   through   evolution   and   progression   will   rise 

To  sing  the  praises  of  their  Maker  in  the  skies. 

Let  the  enemies  of  God  belch  forth  vituperous  scorn, 


56          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Your  souls  will  rise  above  it  on  the  coming  morn. 

See  that  your  life  by  morality  can  your  name  adorn, 

And  you  some  of  the  bright  satelites  in  heaven  will  form. 

It  is  not  hard  to  bridge  the  span  called  death, 

As  it  is  merely  the  change  from  the  body  of  eternal  breath. 

When  you  open  your  spiritual  eyes  on  the  other  side  of  life, 

Then  you  can  by  expiation  all  errors  outwipe, 

For  God  is  forgiveness  and  charity  in  all  her  power — 

So,  you  see,  you  were  loved  from  creation's  hour. 

Oh,  how  can  man  fall  from  God's  grace ! 

Only  through  a  religion  misconducted  by  a  race 

That  held  up  priestcraft  to  enslave  women  and  men, 

And  must  be  wiped  out  of  all  human  ken — 

For  the  spirit  of  Christ  came  through  Jesus  to  earth 

To  teach  you  of  the  higher  spiritual  birth. 

That  when  you  have  laid  down  your  weary  mortal  coil 

Jesus  taught  you  how  all  crime  and  sin  to  foil. 

So,  my  children,  let  Truth  be  your  highest  light, 

For  it  will  open  up  to  you  God's  inner  sight, 

And  through  wisdom  you  will  understand 

That  God  always  loves  and  does  not  command. 

Those  laws  that  never  bring  to  the  highest  intellect  and  gewgaws 

As  you  must  feel  in  your  soul,  God  is  the  great  cause. 

There  is  nothing  fails  here — all  is  real — 

As  you  in  spirit  will  know  and  feel. 

Let  your  thoughts  be  to  your  neighbor  of  eternal  love, 

And  we  and  the  angels  will  reward  you  from  above. 

The  thoughts  of  your  family  group 

Are   that  your  lives   are   like   the   sparkling  brook, 

And  as  you  glide  along  through  life, 

May  you  sew  the  seeds  of  a  higher  light 

Constantly  coming  to  earth's  children  fair, 

As  God  is  in  light,  space  and  air. 

These  few  lines  I  send  to  you, 

My  loving  children,  bright  and  true. 

Father  and  the  rest  all  join  in  spiritual  love. 

Now  you  understand  we  watch  you  from  our  home  above. 

Your  loving  and  affectionate  mother,  Amanda  Hulburd. 


General  George  Warren 

Chapter  VI 


September  15,  1902. 

Brother,  in  eternal  life  I  enter  your  home  with  the  love  of 
friendship,  hoping  that  it  will  never  be  anything  else  but  that 
love  shall  reign  within  your  home. 

My  name  is  Warren ;  I  was  known  as  a  military  officer  in 
your  American  army,  the  position  of  which  I  hope  I  fulfilled, 
as  all  military  men  should  fully  do  their  duty  toward  the  nation 
that  gave  them  birth,  and  the  honor  of  that  birth  being  con- 
summated on  American  soil. 

Why  I  come  today  is  simply  to  honor  the  anniversary  of 
your  little  Medium  and  myself  taking  up  our  tent  together  on 
the  fifteenth  of  September,  1848.  I  come  here  by  the  request 
of  a  band  of  spirits  to  give  a  description  or  illustration  by  the 
pen  of  his  life  while  I  knew  him  ;  many  of  the  band  consist  of 
his  friends  and  my  friends.  Why,  I  express  it  in  that  way  is 
that  many  of  my  friends  never  met  him  while  they  lived  in  the 
body — only  hearing  of  him  and  that  he  belonged  to  me. 

Xow,  I  will  commence  my  illustration  and  you  will  give  it 
to  the  public  through  your  pen,  the  orifice  of  the  ink  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  fingers  that  handle  the  pen. 

This  illustration  that  I  will  give  to  you  is  true  and  truthful, 
as  it  comes  from  every  sentiment  of  my  nature  and  existent  of 
my  soul's  comprehension.  I  have  awakened  to  the  simplicity  of 
my  natural  condition  in  connection  with  your  medium — rap. 
That  rap  that  you  just  heard  is  the  manifestation  and  proof  of 
which  I  shall  relate  to  you. 

In  the  early  part  of  September,  1848,  I  attended  a  perform- 
ance given  at  a  theater  in  which  Adah  Isaacs  Menken  played  the 
leading  part.  The  little  Medium  was  then  called  "The  Dashing 


58          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Blanchard."  He  lived  and  traveled  in  female  attire.  He  was 
not  quite  four  feet  tall,  but  very  beautiful  to  look  at.  He  had 
beautiful  long  dark  raven  locks,  which  waved  and  curled  as  they 
fell  toward  the  ground. 

Xow  I  will  address  the  Medium  as  she,  for  as  such  he  was 
known  to  the  public. 

In  the  play  she  played  a  sprightly,  artistic  soubrette  part — 
one  in  which  she  made  a  great  deal  of  fun  for  the  audience  to 
laugh  at.  Her  dancing  and  singing  was  charming.  I  became 
smitten  and  vowed  I  must  know  her,  for  she  had  stolen  my  love 
and  heart  that  night.  It  was  love  at  first  sight.  It  increased  and 
lasted  while  I  lived  in  a  physical  body.  A  more  happy  little 
creature  I  never  met  in  life.  She  was  one  of  the  most  innocent 
individuals  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting.  I  can  see  her 
large  eyes  now  looking  up  at  me  in  wonder  when  I  would  tell 
her  some  of  the  affairs  in  human  life — for  you  must  understand, 
she  was  born  and  lived  in  the  country  until  about  one  year  be- 
fore she  entered  the  theatrical  life,  and  as  the  Scotch  say,  "She 
was  a  bonnie  thing  to  look  at."  Those  who  played  with  her 
when  she  made  her  debut  told  me  that  she  was  a  little  mite  of 
a  thing  and  could  sing  and  dance,  much  to  the  delight  of  the 
people. 

She  made  her  first  appearance  at  the  Old  Chatham  Street 
1  heater,  in  Xew  York  city.  I  think  it  was  then  called  the  Na- 
tional Theater.  I  have  heard  actors  tell  how  the  little  thing 
sang  in  broken  English,  for  she  had  to  learn  how  to  speak  Eng- 
lish after  she  came  to  America.  I've  heard  G.  AY.  Jones  say  it 
was  a  strange  little  creature.  After  she  had  played  about  six 
months  she  had  taken  to  wandering  off  by  herself  and  they  had 
great  difficulty  to  find  her  sometimes.  He  says  he  remembers 
one  time  they  found  her  in  a  cellar  at  the  "Five  Points,"  dancing 
and  singing  for  a  lot  of  negroes  and  low  whites.  At  another 
time  they  found  her  grinding  an  organ  for  an  old  Italian  at  the 
corner  of  Chambers  and  Center  streets.  At  another  time  they 
found  her  crying  out  the  beauties  of  an  old  Jew's  wares  on  Pearl 
street.  He  said  the  Jew  was  sitting  down  on  a  three-legged  stool, 
laughing  fit  to  kill  himself,  while  she  was  crying  out  what  bar- 
gains they  would  get  if  they  would  only  come  and  buy.  Mr. 
Jones  said  on  Chatham  street  there  was  a  little  museum,  natur- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  59 

ally,  he  said,  he  looked  up  and  to  his  surprise  there  was  the 
Little  One  standing  in  a  window  held  up  by  the  fat  woman  of 
the  show.  He  was  crying  out,  "Here's  where  you  get  the  best 
show  in  the  world,  and  you  can  see  everything  that's  in  the 
world  if  you  buy  a  ticket." 

"I  knew  we  had  to  use  him  in  the  play  that  night,  and  now 
was  my  only  chance  to  grab  him  while  he  was  in  sight.  I  bought 
a  ticket,  walked  up  stairs,  walked  right  to  the  window  where  he 
stood,  caught  hold  of  him  and  took  him  right  in  my  arms,  when 
he  said,  'Hello,  Jones;  is  it  time  to  play  yet?'  I  said,  'Yes;  and 
they  are  waiting  for  you.'  He  said,  'All  right,  Jonesey.'  He 
kissed  the  fat  woman  good  bye  and  I  carried  him  in  my  arms  to 
the  theater."  At  that  period  of  his  life  he  dressed  in  boys  clothes. 

I  could  tell  you  many  of  the  escapades  he  would  venture  out 
on,  told  me  by  Mr.  Jones  and  Mr.  Fox;  but  it  would  take  up 
too  much  space. 

He  played  children's  parts  with  many  distinguished  actors 
and  actresses.  Edwin  Forrest  told  me  he  loved  and  admired 
him  very  much,  but  he  was  a  strange  creature,  and  he  never 
could  understand  him. 

Now,  I  will  return  where  "he"  is  a  "she,"  that  is  as  the  world 
looked  upon  it.  "\Yhen  I  made  her  acquaintance  she  was  full  of 
fun  and  harmless  tricks.  Menken  used  to  say,  "The  little  creature 
is  a  regular  kitten  ;  it  is  always  so  full  of  fun." 

Xow.  I  will  relate  here  something,  perhaps,  the  world  never 
knew — I  do  not  relate  this  through  vanity  or  vain  feeling  of  my 
personal  appearance — I  have  to  relate  it  in  order  to  fill  out  this 
part  of  my  communication. 

The  beautiful  Menken  fell  desperately  in  love  with  me.  I 
could  not  return  that  love,  for  she  was  no  woman  of  my  choice. 
I  was  desperately  in  love  with  the  Little  One,  and  thought  I 
could  not  live  if  I  did  not  possess  that  little  creature.  I  wanted 
it  all  for  my  own  and  to  take  it  away  from  the  gaze  of  the  world. 
I  felt  I  must  steal  it,  carry  it  off  and  hide  it  away  in  the  woods 
where  none  but  the  birds  and  myself  could  look  at  it. 

When  the  beautiful  Menken  discovered  I  was  in  love  with 
the  little  creature  she  commenced  to  hate  it  and  upbraid  it  badly 
for  not  paying  proper  attention  to  its  business  on  the  stage, 
which  came  from  a  jealous  part  of  her  nature,  then  she  coin- 


60 

menced  to  tell  us  dreadful  things  about  the  Little  One,  who  was 
innocent  of  everything  she  accused  it  of. 

I  told  her  I  would  not  listen  to  any  of  her  stories,  for  I 
knew  they  were  lies  made  up  through  her  jealousy  toward  the 
Little  One. 

Then  she  came  out  and  told  me,  "She  can  never  bear  you 
children.  She  is  of  both  sexes — an  hermaphrodite."  I  said,  "So 
much  the  better,  for  I  do  not  like  children.  She  is  all  the  little 
baby  that  I  want  anything  to  do  with."  She  said,  "She's  not 
yours  yet,  and  there's  many  a  slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip." 
She  said,  "Now  listen  to  me,  Warren,  and  also  to  common  sense, 
"If  you  will  promise  to  marry  me,  I  will  get  divorced  from  my 
husband ;  then  we  can  go  to  Europe,  where  I  am  a  big  favorite. 
There  we  can  get  rich  and  buy  a  beautiful  home."  I  told  her  all 
the  beautiful  homes  on  earth  could  not  fill  the  place  of  that  Little 
One  in  my  heart.  I  felt  that  she  was  for  me  and  I  was  for  her. 
Menken  tried  to  force  a  large  diamond  ring  on  to  my  little  finger, 
saying,  "Take  that  as  a  keepsake  and  act  sensible."  I  placed  the 
diamond  ring  on  her  dressing  table,  saying,  at  the  same  time, 
"Xo  one  can  buy  me  with  diamonds  or  mioney.  I  am  a  man  and 
an  honorable  man,  I  want  you  to  understand.  My  ancestors,  the 
Warrens,  were  honorable  people  and  I  never  heard  of  one  of 
them  selling  their  honor  for  money,"  and  walked  toward  the 
door  of  her  room.  She  turned  in  a  fierce  fashion,  saying,  "I  hate 
that  Dashing  Blancharcl,  and  shall  hate  you,  too,  if  you  shall 
prefer  her  to  me." 

I  called  at  the  hotel  the  next  afternoon  and  sent  my  card  to 
Blanchard's  room.  She  sent  me  back  word  that  her  trunks  were 
packed  and  she  was  going  to  leave  for  Xew  York  that  evening. 
It  seemed  as  if  my  brain  got  on  fire.  I  ran  up  those  stairs  two 
and  three  steps  at  a  time.  YVhen  I  had  reached  her  room  I  found 
the  door  was  open.  She  was  sitting  on  a  sofa,  stroking  down  a 
cat.  I  walked  into  the  room  and  said,  "Blanchard,  what  does 
this  mean?  Why  are  you  going  to  Xew  York?"  She  said,  "Adah 
says  she  will  not  require  me  any  longer  and  has  purchased  a 
ticket  for  Xew  York,  making  nie  a  present  of  it."  I  said,  "You 
shall  not  go  to  Xew  York."  She  said,  "But,  I  will,  for  I  can't 
afford  to  stay  here  and  pay  board."  I  said,  "Your  board  is  of  no 
consequence.  I  shall  pay  your  bills."  She  laughed  and  said, 
"How  generous  men  are  becoming." 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  61 

Two  nights  before  that  she  gave  me  a  tongue  lashing  in  a  ball 
room.  I  told  her  it  was  no  use  to  do  that.  She  would  become 
mine  and  she  could  not  help  herself.  That  night  when  I  saw 
her  home  from  the  ball  I  told  her  I  would  call  tomorrow  after- 
noon for  my  answer.  She  slapped  my  face  in  the  carriage  and 
kicked  my  legs.  I  said  those  were  only  love  taps.  I  called  the 
next  afternoon.  She  sent  word  to  me  in  the  parlor  she  would 
not  see  me.  I  then  went  direct  to  her  room,  opened  the  door, 
walked  in  and  closed  it  behind  me,  which  was  a  piece  of  audacity 
and  not  such  as  a  gentleman  would  do ;  but  my  brain  was  on 
fire  all  the  time  and  that  is  the  only  excuse  I  can  make.  I  said, 
Little  One,  I  have  come  for  my  answer."  She  said,  "Take  it," 
at  the  same  time  throwing  a  water  pitcher  at  me,  which  I  dodged. 
Oh,  those  eyes  were  beautiful  when  she  was  angry !  I  went  up 
and  took  her  in  my  arms.  She  kicked  and  fought  me  at  the  same 
time  pulling  my  hair  and  slapping  my  face.  I  sat  down  with  her 
on  the  sofa,  saying,  "Little  Pet,  listen  to  me.  You're  to  be  mine 
and  you  can't  help  yourself.  I  shall  be  both  a  husband  and  a 
father  to  you." 

I  want  to  tell  you  here,  that  I  brought  my  psychological 
power  to  bear  on  the  Little  One,  who  became  quiet  and  passive. 
I  said,  "Xow,  Little  One,  you  were  made  for  me  and  I  was  made 
for  you,  and  we  must  both  live  in  the  same  tent.  She  said,  "Why, 
I  am  never  going  to  marry  any  man,  I  couldn't  bring  his  children 
into  the  world,  and  a  married  man  is  never  happy  only  when  he 
has  children  and  he  hears  them  call  him  'papa.'  "  I  said.  "My 
sweet  little  goose,  that  is  all  right.  I  do  not  want  any 
children,  because  I  do  not  love  them.  Yon  are  all  the  baby  that 
I  want  to  have  around  me.  I  love  you  very  dearly  and  I  know 
in  time  you  will  love  me,  although  I  am  much  older.  I  am 
twenty-seven  years  older  than  you  are,  little  sweetheart,  but 
what  does  that  matter  when  we  love  each  other.  You  require  a 
guardian  to  look  after  you.  You  are  so  innocent  to  the  ways  of 
the  world.  I  am  that  guardian  chosen  by  God.  If  there  is  such 
a  tiling  in  life,  there  is  a  strong  power  that  forces  me  toward 
you.  I  just  feel  a  if  I  want  to  eat  you  up.  Xo  other  man  shall 
ever  own  vou  :  if  any  one  attempts  it  I  will  kill  him.  Xo.  dear, 
vou  have  heard  what  I  have  to  sav,  become  resigned.  Pet.  and 


62          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  will  make  you  the  happiest  creature  living.  I  could  not  do 
otherwise,  for  you  are  so  small  and  fragile."  She  then  said,  "Well, 
if  I  have  to  take  a  husband,  I  might  as  well  take  you  as  anyone 
else ;  but  remember  I  don't  love  you."  I  said,  "That  is  all  right. 
I  will  make  you  love  me,  for  I  will  be  kind  and  gentle  to  you. 
She  said,  "Well,  it's  a  go.  What  are  you  going  to  give  me  after 
getting  off  all  this  talk?"  I  said,  "You  shall  see  tomorrow,  dear, 
when  I  call  to  take  you  up  to  my  Aunt  Mary's,  for  she  is  a  kind 
woman  and  will  be  kind  to  anyone  that  I  love.  I  will  place  you 
in  her  keeping,  as  I  have  to  return  to  West  Point,  where  she  can 
bring  yon  to  see  me."  She  said,  "Well  you  must  go  now,  as  the 
curtain  must  fall  on  this  act  with  tableau  and  red  fire,"  which 
made  me  laugh.  Then  I  placed  her  on  the  sofa,  where  she  stood 
up,  threv  her  arms  around  me  and  kissed  me,  saying,  "Old  man, 
you've  only  got  a  mustache ;  if  you  want  me  to  love  you,  you've 
got  to  have  a  beard,  too."  I  said,  "All  right,  little  darling,  I 
shall  raise  a  beard  expressly  for  you  to  play  with." 

On  the  morrow,  when  I  called,  you  can  realize  the  disap- 
pointment I  met.  There  she  was  with  her  trunks  all  packed  to 
go  to  New  York.  After  I  had  talked  with  her,  I  discovered  that 
she  had  told  Menken  what  she  was  going  to  do — that  she  was 
going  to  live  with  me.  Menken  told  her  I  was  a  very  wicked 
man  and  had  another  wife  and  three  children  and  she  would  buy 
her  a  ticket  to  take  her  to  Xew  York,  where  she  would  escape 
my  clutches — I  being  a  dreadfully  wicked  man.  I  admitted  to 
her  that  I  had  lived  with  a  woman  and  was  the  father  of  three 
children.  I  had  discovered  I  could  not  love  that  woman  as  a 
wife — we  had  been  separated  two  years.  I  then  said,  "I  love  you 
and  you  only  for  all  time.  I  am  the  father  of  many  other  chil- 
dren." She  jumped  up  and  stood  on  the  floor,  looking  at  me  with 
those  wonderful  eyes,  saying,  at  the  same  time,  "Is  that  because 
you're  such  a  big  man,  you  can  be  the  father  of  so  many  chil- 
dren?" I  laughed  and  took  her  in  my  arms,  at  the  same  taking 
out  of  my  vest  pocket  a  diamond  cluster  ring.  It  was  a  beautiful 
ring,  consisting  of  seven  large  stones  of  the  first  water.  I  placed 
it  upon  her  finger,  saying,  "There,  Pet,  that's  what  I  bring  you 
for  all  the  talk  we  had  yesterday."  She  looked  at  the  ring,  ad- 
miring it  on  her  fingers,  and  I  placed  it  on  her  thumb.  She 
laughed  with  joy,  saying,  "Oh,  isn't  it  beautiful?"  She  said. 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  63 

"Now,  I  think  you  are  a  pretty  good-looking  man,"  which  made 
me  laugh.  I  told  her  my  beard  hadn't  come  out  yet.  She  said, 
"This  ring  will  do  until  your  beard  grows." 

That  shows  you,  brother  Hulburd,  how  a  glistening  orna- 
ment will  cover  a  good  many  defects  in  a  man  with  those  that 
have  the  female  nature  in  them — especially  if  the  bauble  has 
much  value  to  it.  I  told  her  then  that  she  must  return  that 
railroad  ticket  to  Miss  Menken.  I  placed  the  ticket  inside  of  an 
envelope,  addressed  it  to  Miss  Menken,  left  it  at  the  hotel  office 
to  be  sent  to  her  room. 

The  Little  One  became  mine  as  long  as  I  lived  in  the  body, 
and  I  was  a  happy  man,  I  tell  you.  Only  I  did  not  like  it,  when 
the  influence  would  come  around  her  and  make  predictions. 

I  gave  the  company  a  supper  on  the  following  night  at  the 
hotel.  Next  day  following  after  that  night  I  placed  my  Little 
One  in  the  care  of  my  Aunt  Mary,  whom  I  loved  above  all  my 
relations.  Then  I  told  the  Little  One  she  must  put  on  boys 
clothes  in  order  that  she  might  visit  me  at  West  Point.  She  did 
as  I  requested. 

On  her  visit  to  West  Point,  General  Scott  said  to  me,  "Who 
is  that  pretty  little  creature  with  your  aunt?  It's  too  sweet- 
looking  for  a  boy ;  it  looks  like  a  girl."  I  said,  "General,  that  is 
my  little  boy ;  he  belongs  all  to  me  and  only  me.  Xo  one  else 
has  a  claim  on  him."  The  General  said,  "Hasn't  the  mother  any 
claim  on  him?"  I  said,  "Xot  now."  The  General  said,  "So,  he's 
one  of  your  boys.  Have  you  ever  counted  how  many  you  can 
claim  relationship  to?  I  suppose  this  one  being  so  pretty  you 
selected  him  out  from  among  the  rest."  I  said,  "Just  so.  gen- 
eral." He  laughed  and  said,  "That's  right.  Warren,  my  boy. 
Keep  the  scripture  by  multiplying  and  replenishing  the  world." 
We  laughed  and  parted,  for  I  saw  the  General  had  fallen  in  love 
with  my  Little  One  and  the  pangs  of  jealousy  crept  into  my 
heart.  It  was  only  a  false  alarm.  I  discovered  in  time  he  loved 
my  Little  One  as  a  father  would  love  a  child,  and  as  long  as  he 
lived  he  was  always  Uncle  Scott  to  my  Little  One. 

We  will  continue  at  another  time,  as  I  know  your  fingers 
must  be  tired. 


64          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

September  16,  1903. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  We  will  now  continue 
my  communication — that  is,  I  will  give  the  communication,  and 
you  will  take  it  down,  as  per  se. 

I  wish  to  give  an  explanation  of  what  a  peculiar  creature 
my  Little  One  was.  I  made  the  discovery  that  his  whole  nature 
was  that  of  generosity,  with  a  good  deal  of  canny  Scotch  in  it. 

I  found  that  I  had  to  be  very  decided  on  all  points  of  the 
question  and  that  question  was  how  to  control  my  Little  One.  I 
discovered  that  he  put  no  valuation  on  money  and  that  he  would 
lend  a  good  deal  of  his  salary  to  some  of  the  deadbeats  in  the 
theater.  I  call  the  Little  One  him  now,  as  he  wears  pants  and  a 
jacket. 

One  Monday  morning  that  I  remember  in  particular,  he 
came  home  from  the  theater  with  part  of  his  salary  gone.  He 
placed  what  was  left  in  my  hand,  saying,  "Papa,  you  take  care 
of  that."  I  thought  I  would  count  it  before  I  locked  it  up  in  the 
desk  drawer,  until  I  could  get  a  chance  to  deposit  in  the  bank. 
When  I  had  counted  it  I  found  it  was  thirty  dollars  short  of  his 
regular  salary.  I  said,  "Puss,  there  is  thirty  dollars  missing." 
He  said,  "Oh,  that's  all  right,  I  lent  Mr.  Boyd  thirty  dollars,  and 
he  is  going  to  pay  me  back  with  interest  when  he  gets  his  bene- 
fit." Then  I  thought  it  was  time  to  put  a  stop  to  those  dead- 
beats  borrowing  his  money.  I  said,  "Come  here  Little  One, 
and  stand  by  me.  Papa  wants  to  talk  to  you  and  talk  to  you 
seriously."  He  looked  up  at  me  with  his  wondering  eyes,  say- 
ing, "Is  your  grandfather  dead?  When  did  he  die?"  I  said,  "Xo, 
my  grandfather  is  not  dead.  I  want  to  tell  you  a  story  about  a 
man  who  thought  everybody  was  honest,  just  as  he  was.  He 
had  a  relation  die  and  leave  him  a  large  fortune."  He  said,  "Oh. 
papa,  now  you  are  coming  to  the  truth.  You're  rich,  'aint  you? 
Who  left  you  all  the  money?"  I  said,  "Xo,  Pet,  I  am  not  rich. 
X'ow,  pay  attention  to  what  I  have  to  say.  This  man  that  was 
left  all  the  money  was  a  very  generous,  liberal-minded  man.  His 
friends  or  supposed  friends  kept  borrowing  from  him.  He  would 
lend  them  money  and  take  no  note  for  the  same  or  any  written 
statement  whatever.  He  kept  lending  and  lending  his  money 
and  the  first  thing  he  knew  he  was  a  poor  man.  He  had  run 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  65 

up  many  bills  himself  and  one  morning  he  woke  up  to  find  the 
merchants  were  demanding  their  money.  He  thought  he  would 
go  around  and  see  the  people  that  he  had  loaned  money  to,  tell- 
ing them  they  must  pay  him  back  now,  as  he  had  a  number  of 
bills  to  pay  himself  and  the  merchants  would  not  become  satisfied 
until  he  had  liquidated  those  debts,  or,  in  other  words,  had  given 
his  check  for  payment.  He  gave  his  checks  out  quite  freely, 
thinking  his  friends  would  pay  him  back  the  money  so  that  he 
might  deposit  it  in  the  bank  to  meet  those  checks.  His  friends 
did  not  return  him  the  money,  but  were  prolific  with  excuses 
why  they  did  not  do  so.  Now,  you  see,  Little  One,  this  man  had 
no  business  qualities  whatever.  His  notes  were  put  to  protest 
and  he  became  a  disgraced  man.  The  dreadful  calamity  that  had 
befallen  him  broke  him  down.  He  aged  fast,  and  finally  landed 
in  the  poorhouse  another  pauper  for  the  county  to  take  care  of. 
"Why  I  have  told  you  that  little  story  is  to  show  to  you 
how  many  people  that  borrow  never  intend  to  pay  back.  Now, 
I  confidently  believe  that  this  man  Boyd,  will  never  pay  you 
back  what  he  has  borrowed.  He  owes  you  over  three  hundred 
dollars  now  and  I  as  your  guardian  and  friend  must  put  a  stop 
to  it.  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  do  so.  Every  Monday  morning,  while 
you  are  playing  this  engagement  I  will  go  to  the  box  office  and 
receive  your  salary.  Then,  I'd  like  to  see  any  of  those  dead- 
beats  borrow  it  from  me."  He  said,  "All  right,  Papa  Warren,  you 
are  a  bully  soldier."  Then  he  remained  quiet  for  a  number  of 
minutes.  I  saw  he  was  thinking  about  something.  I  took  him 
on  my  lap  and  said  to  him,  "Pet,  what  are  you  thinking  about?" 
He  looked  at  me  with  one  of  his  roguish  smiles,  and  said,  "Papa, 
was  ever  any  of  the  Warren's  hung  for  being  too  generous?" 
The  idea  struck  me  as  ridiculous,  and  I  burst  out  laughing.  He 
invariably  went  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.  He  heaved 
a  long  sigh  and  said,  "I  guess  I'm  damned  bad,  papa,  but  when  I 
learn  to  read  the  Bible  I'll  be  good  then,  papa."  I  said,  "My 
little  darling,  you  are  good  now.  you  think  everybody  is  honest, 
like  yourself,  and  that  is  why  they  take  advantage  of  your  good- 
ness. Now,  I  am  going  to  make  a  proposition  to  you.  "I  will 
place  ten  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank  in  your  name,  providing 
you  will  promise  me  to  deposit  the  largest  part  of  your  salary 
everv  Mondav  in  the  bank  to  swell  vour  account,  and  sonic  (lav 


66          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

you  can  buy  a  farm  and  take  Papa  Warren  there  to  live  with 
you."  "Oh,"  he  said,  "won't  that  be  grand?"  He  jumped  off 
my  lap,  danced  around  and  clasped  his  hands.  You  see,  Brother 
Hulburd,  I  had  to  appeal  to  him  as  I  would  to  a  child  of  nine 
or  ten  years  old.  He  was  always  a  child  in  nature.  The  people 
that  had  charge  of  him  did  not  educate  him.  When  I  told  him 
or  explained  anything  to  him  I  had  to  do  it  in  plain  language, 
using  no  high-sounding  business  words  of  any  kind,  as  he  would 
not  understand  them,  being  quite  illiterate  as  regards  education. 

Nature  had  provided  him  with  wonderful  gifts,  which  made 
him  a  star  in  his  profession.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  flowers 
and  loved  art  of  all  kinds.  He'd  bring  weeds  of  different  descrip- 
tions and  place  them  in  a  vase  of  water;  as  long  as  they  had 
pretty  tints,  that  was  all  that  was  required.  He  loved  all  kinds 
of  animals,  dogs  and  cats  being  his  favorites.  He  had  a  true 
mother  nature,  and  all  children  were  attracted  to  him — no  mat- 
ter how  dirty  and  ragged  they  were,  he  could  always  see  some- 
thing pretty  in  them.  Quite  frequently  he'd  make  me  feel 
ashamed  in  the  street,  when  he'd  grab  hold  of  a  little  dirty  rag- 
ged urchin  and  kiss  it.  He'd  say,  "Oh,  papa,  did  you  see  that 
pretty  face  and  those  beautiful  eyes?  "  Perhaps  the  little  urchin's 
face  would  be  so  dirty  you  couldn't  tell  anything  about  it.  One 
day  I  had  to  laugh  in  the  street.  I  couldn't  help  it.  We  were 
crossing  the  street  from  one  sidewalk  to  another ;  there  was  a  lit- 
tle ragged  girl  sweeping  the  crossing  and  begging  money,  while 
we  were  crossing  a  man  drove  along  in  a  buggy.  The  little  girl 
stepped  out  of  the  way  to  let  the  horse  and  buggy  pass.  As  she 
did  so  she  slipped  and  fell  into  a  pool  of  muddy  water.  Puss 
rushed  and  dragged  her  out,  saying,  "Are  you  hurt,  my  dear?" 
She  said,  "Xo,  you  son  of  a  bitch,  I'm  not;  you  know  very  well, 
I  wasn't  hurt.  Now,  give  me  a  nickel  quick  for  cleaning  the 
crossing  so  that  you  ere  gents  wouldn't  get  your  shoes  dirty." 
He  took  out  a  quarter  and  gave  it  to  her,  saying,  "There,  now 
you  can  get  something  nice  to  eat."  She  thanked  him,  and  when 
she  looked  at  him  the  second  time,  she  said,  "Holy  Jesus !  It's 
the  star  of  the  Seventh  Street  Theater.  Til  be  damned  if  it  'aint." 

When  we  had  reached  the  sidewalk  he  looked  up  at  me  with 
one  of  his  roguish  looks,  and  said,  "Papa  Warren,  she's  religious. 
Didn't  you  hear  her  talk  about  'Holy  Jesus?'"  It  struck  me  so 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  67 

comical,  him  saying  she  was  religious,  that  I  burst  out  into  a 
loud  laugh  until  my  sides  shook  with  laughter.  So  you  will  un- 
derstand he  always  saw  the  comical  side  of  everything. 

When  we  were  by  ourselves  in  our  apartments,  he'd  coax 
me  to  play  circus  with  him.  He  was  very  fond  of  walking  around 
on  his  hands  with  his  feet  up  in  the  air.  He'd  get  me  to  lie 
down  on  a  rug  on  the  floor  in  order  that  he  might  jump  up  on  my 
feet  and  from  there  jump  on  to  my  hands.  There  was  not  much 
weight  to  him  then.  He  only  weighed  seventy  pounds. 

When  he  would  jump  on  to  my  hands  he'd  get  me  to  twist 
him  around  this  way  and  that.  Then  he  would  jump  from  my 
hands  on  to  the  floor,  smile  and  bow  all  around,  as  if  he  was  re- 
ceiving great  applause  from  the  people  in  the  circus,  then  he'd 
throw  kisses  to  the  imaginary  people  when  he  would  say.  "Ladies 
and  gentlemen.  I  will  now  perform  the  great  belly  walking  feat." 
Then  he  would  bow,  laugh  and  throw  kisses  again,  as  if  he  was 
receiving  great  applause.  He'd  turn  to  me  and  say.  "Xow,  papa, 
hold  your  legs  stiff;  this  is  the  great  star  act  of  the  evening." 
Then  he  would  jump  on  to  my  feet,  stand  erect,  bowing  and 
smiling  to  the  supposed  audience,  when  all  of  a  sudden  he'd 
drop  with  his  belly  on  to  my  feet,  crying  out,  "Papa,  twist  like 
hell  now,  for  this  is  our  great  act."  After  I  had  twisted  him 
considerable  around  on  my  feet  he'd  jump  to  the  floor,  bow  and 
run  into  the  bedroom  ;  then  he'd  rush  out  again  hollering  at  the 
top  of  his  voice,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  it's  impossible  that  I 
can  perform  that  daring  feat  tonight  again.  Papa  Warren  has 
struck  for  higher  wages,  so  you  see  you  will  have  to  let  me  go 
this  time."  Then  he'd  run  back  into  the  bedroom.  He  did  it  all 
so  earnestly  that  I  would  have  to  laugh  when  he  had  finished  up. 
Xo  doubt  some  of  the  readers  when  they  read  this  communica- 
tion will  think  bow  unmanly  it  was  for  a  large  man  like  me  and 
unbecoming  to  my  dignity  as  an  officer  in  the  army  to  get  down 
on  the  floor  and  play  circus  with  my  Little  (  )ne  :  but  if  they 
would  only  stop  and  think  bow  happy  it  made  me  to  play  circus 
with  him.  for  to  me  he  was  always  a  little  child.  \\  hen  I  would 
lock  the  doors  of  our  apartments,  lie  down  on  the  large  Turkish 
rug  and  play  circus  with  my  Little  (  >nc.  I  was  one  of  the  hapnie^t 
men  in  the  world.  Xo  king  or  emperor  that  ever  sat  on  a  throne 
was  prouder  than  I  was  then  to  see  my  little  agile  creature  jump 


68 

around  and  imagine  he  was  a  great  acrobat  in  the  circus.  Little 
did  I  think  then  that  little,  nimble  agile  creature  would  become 
such  a  daring  spy  in  the  war  between  the  North  and  the  South. 
His  little  body  was  all  nerve  and  grit  and  he  knew  not  what  the 
word  fea*r  meant.  I  permitted  him  to  become  Abraham  Lincoln's 
private  spy.  It  was  a  secret  between  the  President  and  myself. 

He  was  one  of  the  gentlest  creatures  I  ever  knew  until 
aroused  into  anger  by  something  that  displeased  him,  then  the 
air  would  become  blue,  as  it  were,  for  a  time  with  oaths.  How 
he  could  swear,  is  beyond  anything  that  I  could  describe  in  this 
communication.  If  I  was  close  by  when  he'd  commence  to  swear 
I  would  go  up  and  take  him  in  my  arms,  place  my  hand  upon 
his  head  and  bring  my  psychological  power  into  use.  After  a 
little  I'd  calm  him  down  when  his  whole  little  body  would  relax 
just  as  if  it  were  a  rag.  I'd  carry  him  to  some  place  where  I 
could  sit  down  with  him.  I  would  not  relax  my  will  power 
until  he  had  gone  to  sleep,  for  I  knew  that  was  the  only  medi- 
cine that  would  give  him  strength. 

Brother  Hulburd,  I  had  a  peculiar  little  being  to  deal  with — 
the  strangest  character  I  ever  came  in  contact  with.  As  years 
went  by  I  thought  I  understood  him  thoroughly,  but,  alas !  I 
had  made  a  failure  in  that.  I  woke  up  to  the  discovery  as  years 
went  on  that  I  did  not  understand  my  Little  Puss,  and  no  one 
will  ever  understand  him  thoroughly  while  he  lives  in  his  phys- 
ical body.  Oh,  God !  what  a  strange  life  he  has  lived.  He  told 
me  he  never  was  happy  until  he  met  me.  I  traced  back  his  wan- 
derings through  life  and  they  were  many  and  various.  He  suf- 
fered poverty,  shame  and  disgrace,  but  he  went  through  it  all 
living  as  if  in  a  dream. 

There  is  so  much  that  took  place  in  his  life  while  living  with 
me  before  our  Civil  \Yar  came,  it  would  fill  three  or  four  large 
volumes  but  I  protected  him  through  it  all  from  deadbeats  and 
vipers  in  the  outside  world.  I  used  to  say,  "Oh,  God,  if  there  is 
such  a  spiritual  existence,  take  him  out  of  his  little  body  before 
you  do  me,  that  I  may  lay  his  little  body  away  from  the  cruel 
cold  world  that  had  treated  him  so  meanly."  But  it  was  not  to 
be.  Brother  Hulburd,  as  you  see  he  still  lives  in  the  body.  People 
used  to  look  at  him  and  say  to  me,  "\Yhat  a  strange  creature 
your  boy  is,  Mr.  Warren.  He  can  laugh  and  cry  almost  in  the 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  69 

same  minute  and  don't  you  know,  Mr.  Warren,  if  he  had  lived 
a  hundred  years  back  instead  of  at  the  present  time  they  would 
have  burned  him  for  a  witch,  because  he  tells  so  many  things  that 
come  true."  I  will  not  relate  his  predictions  here.  They  were 
many  and  would  take  up  too  large  a  space  in  the  book. 

I  remember  one  time  we  were  at  a  reception,  one  I  think  of 
the  best  given  in  the  city ;  it  was  very  elegant  and  carried  out 
with  a  lavish  design  which  money  could  furnish  for  that  pur- 
pose. One  of  the  ladies  present  said  to  me,  while  standing  in  an 
alcove  surrounded  by  palms,  "Can  you  not  give  that  boy  up?  I 
am  wealthy.  I  am  worth  seven  millions  in  my  own  right.  If  you 
will  give  that  boy  up  and  say  you  will  marry  me,  I  will  get  di- 
vorced from  my  husband  and  make  you  a  wealthy  man."  I  said, 
"Madam,  not  all  the  money  that  this  city  contains  could  fill  that 
boy's  place  in  my  heart.  I  love  him  as  I  love  nothing  else  in  the 
world.  He  is  dearer  to  me  than  any  God  I  ever  heard  of,  if  such 
a  thing  can  be  possible  that  there  is  a  God  such  as  you  church 
people  talk  of."  She  said,  "Why  is  it  that  you  love  this  boy 
so?"  I  said,  "Because,,  Madam,  that  boy  is  my  wife."  She  said, 
"God  in  Heaven,  what  do  you  mean,  General;  did  I  hear  aright? 
Did  you  tell  me  that  that  creature  was  your  wife?"  I  said,  "So, 
madam  ;  he  is  of  both  sexes — the  female  predominating.  Xo  di- 
amond that  was  ever  set  in  a  Queen's  crown  could  ever  be  such 
a  precious  jewel  as  that  jewel  is  to  me."  She  said,  "You  love  that 
creature  and  call  it  your  wife?  How  is  it  with  your  other  wife?" 
I  told  her  my  other  wife  bore  me  children,  but  I  never  loved 
her.  It  was  only  a  marriage  of  circumstances."  She  said, "God 
in  Heaven,  general,  what  a  novel  this  would  make.  What  shall 
I  do  with  the  son  I  bore  you  that  my  husband  has  fathered?" 
"Do  as  you  wish  with  him,  madam,  let  your  own  heart  dictate 
what  is  best  to  do.  I'll  allow  no  one  to  come  between  me  and 
my  Little  Puss."  She  wrung  her  hands  and  commenced,  to  cry. 
saving.  "Oh,  God,  what  will  become  of  me?  I  love  voti  so.  and 
carry  another  child  of  yours  in  my  womb.  Man.  have  you  no 
heart  or  soul?  You  know  I  do  not  love  my  husband  as  I  do  you. 
Let  us  rly  together  and  I  will  make  you  the  happiest  man  living." 
I  said,  "That  can  never  be,"  when  we  heard  footsteps  approach 
ing.  A  brother  officer  came  up  leading  Little  Puss  by  the  hand. 
Little  Puss  saw  how  the  ladv  looked,  he  went  forward  and  said, 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

"Lady,  you  are  sick.''  He  turned  and  said  to  me,  "Papa,  get  her 
some  gin  and  water  quick ;  that's  good  for  a  woman's  nerves  '' 
The  look  of  a  devil  came  in  her  eye.  She  opened  her  mouth  and 
said,  "You  stand  between  me  and  the  man  I  love,  curse  you," 
and  with  that  she  grabbed  him  by  the  throat  and  would  have 
strangled  him  to  death  had  not  my  brother  officer  and  I  released 
her  hands.  Then  I  threw  her  to  one  corner  of  the  alcove,  say- 
ing, "You  she  devil  I  never  loved  you  and  told  you  so;  but  you 
kept  sending  me  presents  with  notes  accompanying  them  to  meet 
you  at  certain  places.  I  did  not  meet  you,,  but  one  day  I  was 
passing  your  house  and  you  saw  me  from  your  parlor  window. 
You  ran  to  the  door  and  called  me  in  and  you  know  the  result 
of  that  interview.  You  bore  me  a  male  child."  My  brother  of- 
ficer stood  there  pale  and  speechless,  for  he  was  her  cousin. 
Their  fathers  were  brothers.  "\Yhen  I  had  stopped  speaking  thi 
Little  One  burst  out  laughing,  when  finally  he  said,  "Oh,  papa, 
don't  I  wish  that  this  scene  had  been  on  the  stage.  It  would 
have  made  a  hit.  You  and  she  can  act  so  good."  As  I  said  be- 
fore he  always  saw  the  funny  side  of  everything.  I  said,  "Come 
with  me,  pet,  we  will  leave  the  house,  call  our  carriage  and  re- 
turn home." 

My  brother  officer  followed  me  and  as  we  entered  the  hall 
he  placed  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  saying,  "Warren,  was  it  all 
true  what  you  said  to  her?"  I  said,  "Yes,  it  is  all  true,  but  see 
that  you  tell  no  one  of  what  you  heard."  He  said,  "She  is  a 
wicked  woman  and  has  deceived  her  husband."  I  said,  "She  is 
no  wickeder  than  I  am,  and  if  there  is  any  punishment  to  come 
from  it  in  the  hereafter,  as  you  call  it,  I  am  man  enough  to  pay 
the  penalty  for  it  all ;  but  she  led  me  on  with  her  coquetry,  and 
you  heard  me  tell  what  the  result  was."  He  said,  "I  did  not 
think  this  of  you."  I  told  him  I  did  not  claim  to  be  a  strictly 
moral  man.  but  I  would  allow  no  woman  to  come  between  me 
and  my  Little  One. 

I  promised  my  Little  One  that  if  we  both  outlived  the  war 
I  would  furnish  rooms  for  him  that  would  look  beautiful,  as  I 
would  furnish  them  in  colors  to  suit  his  taste.  AYe  both  outlived 
the  war  and  I  kept  my  promise.  I  purchased  costly  furniture  and 
beautiful  paintings  to  adorn  the  walls.  1  paid  a  large  price  for 
Mueller's  "Four  Seasons."  which  I  think  were  beautiful  pictures 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  71 

to  look  at.  I  also  purchased  other  works  of  art,  which  I  knew 
would  make  him  happy  when  he  saw  them.  After  I  had  the 
rooms  furnished  and  all  things  were  put  in  place,  as  I  thought 
would  please  him  I  invited  him  to  see  the  rooms,  General  Meade 
accompanying  us  at  the  same  time. 

When  I  opened  the  door  and  invited  them  to  enter,  Little 
Puss  surveyed  the  premises  all  around,  and  said,  "G.  Scott,  isn't 
this  fine !  I  think,  papa,  you  are  getting  better  looking  every 
day.  Don't  you  think  so,  Meadey,  my  boy?"  which  got  us  to 
laughing.  He  walked  through  the  different  rooms,  then  finally 
came  back  and  sat  down  in  the  center  of  the  parlor  floor.  He 
commenced  to  cry  and  then  laughed.  He  looked  up  at  me  and 
said,  "Papa,  we  are  getting  rich  and  we  don't  know  it."  I  said 
I  hoped  it  would  always  last  that  way. 

AYhy  I  tell  you  this,  Brother  Hulburd,  is  to  show  you  what 
a  childish  nature  he  had.  He  was  an  artist  while  on  the  stage 
but  outside  of  his  profession  he  always  had  the  simplicity  of  a 
child.  He  was  not  a  child  in  years,  it  was  only  the  way  he 
looked  at  things.  Sometimes  he  would  become  quite  serious  and 
seem  to  understand  advanced  things  in  life.  He  would  talk  like  a 
highly  educated  individual,  perhaps,  in  an  hour  he  would  become 
Little  Puss  again — the  rollicking  child  of  nature.  Oh,  how  he 
loved  to  go  into  the  woods  where  he  could  scream,  dance  and 
sing  to  his  heart's  content.  He'd  get  me  to  sit  down  by  the  foot 
of  a  large  tree,  when  he'd  say,"  Xow,  papa,  let's  play  you're 
Robin  Hood  and  I'm  your  best  fellow  that  brings  you  all  the 
good  things  to  eat.  He  gathers  sonie  leaves,  sticks  and  stones, 
brings  them  and  lays  them  on  the  ground  alongside  of  me,  while 
on  the  other  side  he'd  place  some  brush  and  long  grass.  \Yhen 
he  had  finished  arranging  the  things  he'd  say,  "Xow.  Mr.  Robin 
Hood,  fall  to  and  eat  all  you  want."  and  with  a  sweep  of  his  arm 
he  would  say,  "You  see,  Mr.  Robin  Hood,  there  is  abundance  in 
these  woods,  so  do  not  fail  to  satisfy  your  appetite."  After  he 
would  play  in  that  way  for  about  two  hours  I  would  say,  "Puss, 
come  and  sit  down  alongside  of  papa,  and  sing  some  of  your 
woodland  songs." 

There  was  one  song  that  I  always  liked  to  hear  him  sing: — 
From  the  woodland  bowers 
I   bring  you   these   beautiful   flowers 


THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Hoping  at  every  hour 
Our  souls  together  will  tour 
Into  yon  bright  realm  beyond 
Where  you  and  I  and  our  souls 
Will  be  left  alone  to  bound. 

I  like  to  tell  of  these  things  that  he  would  do.  To  others 
they  may  look  simple  and  childish,  but  to  me  they  remain  as 
jewels  set  in  my  soul  and  that  setting  is  a  sacred  love  for  all 
time. 

After  awhile  he  would  lay  his  head  down  on  my  lap  and  go 
to  sleep.  I  would  read  the  newspaper  until  he  awoke  out  of  his 
sleep.  Brother  Hulburd,  we  were  two  happy  beings,  then.  We 
would  return  home  filled  with  nature's  gift — that  was  one  of 
the  greatest  medicines  in  life.  We  revelled  in  nature's  free  air 
and  sang  under  the  great  trees  in  the  woodland. 

After  that  he  would  become  a  contented  child  for  some  time 
until  the  great  desire  came  upon  him  to  go  out  into  the  woods 
and  the  free  air,  for  he  had  a  great  deal  of  Gipsy  in  his  nature. 
I  frequently  called  him  my  little  Gipsy.  I  really  think  there 
must  have  been  Gipsy  blood  in  him  at  some  time  in  his  nature. 
I  used  to  think  it  was  Highland  blood ;  at  times  he  would  play 
the  Gipsy  while  we  were  in  the  woods  and  would  pretend  to 
read  people's  fortunes  and  sometimes  they  came  true.  We  will 
continue  at  another  time. 

Wednesday,  September  17,  1902. 

Well,  Brother  Hulburd,  I  see  it  is  almost  the  noon  hour  for 
those  who  live  in  a  physical  body ;  for  us  that  live  in  a  spiritual 
body  all  hours  are  alike.  Sometimes  we  require  quietude  and 
rest  to  prepare  our  condition  for  further  development. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1867,  the  Little  One  and  I  were 
visiting  a  very  fine  family  who  lived  in  Wilmington,  Delaware. 
While  there  the  friends  made  arrangements  for  a  picnic  on  the 
banks  of  the  Brandywine.  The  morning  of  the  picnic  was  beau- 
tiful and  warm.  We  were  conveyed  to  the  picnic  grounds  in 
three  large  stages.  I  remember  each  stage  had  four  large  horses 
harnessed  to  it.  When  we  arrived  at  the  picnic  ground  the  peo- 
ple immediately  improvised  tables  to  place  their  baskets  on. 

We  opened  the  day  with  singing  and  recitations.  A  num- 
ber of  the  women  grouped  together  were  talking  about  the  beau- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN 

ties  of  the  day.  While  they  were  thus  conversing,  one  of  the 
women  inadvertently  made  a  remark  about  me.  I  do  not  think 
she  would  have  done  so,  had  she  known  my  Little  One  was  so 
close  by.  When  he  -heard  the  remark  he  rushed  at  her  with 
such  a  torrent  of  oaths  that  the  rest  of  the  women  screamed  and 
scattered.  The  one  that  made  the  remark  stood  there  and  did 
not  seem  to  move.  The  Little  One  jumped  up  on  to  the  impro- 
vised table,  cursed  and  swore,  damned  them  all  into  hell  for  a 
lot  of  old  scandal  mongers.  A  boy  came  running  up  to  where  I 
stood  with  some  other  gentlemen,  smoking.  He  said,  "Oh, 
come,  Mr.  Warren,  quick ;  your  boy  has  gone  mad."  I  hurried 
after  the  boy  as  fast  as  I  could.  When  I  arrived  at  the  place, 
there  I  found  the  lady  crying  and  Puss  standing  on  the  table, 
cursing.  I  took  him  in  my  arms  and  carried  him  away  into  the 
woods  where  I  could  quiet  him  down.  I  got  him  to  become 
quiet  and  go  to  sleep.  I  remained  there  with  him,  I  should 
judge,  about  an  hour,  then  I  arose  and  went  to  the  people  to 
beg  all  the  ladies'  pardon  who  were  present.  I  explained  to 
them  the  nature  and  character  of  my  Little  One  and  that  he 
was  very  impulsive.  He  was  a  little  Highlander,  and  had  a  great 
deal  of  that  wild  Highland  nature  in  him.  Often  I  think  it  had 
more  of  the  Gipsy  in  it  than  anything  else. 

The  ladies,  with  the  assistance  of  some  of  the  gentlemen, 
made  preparations  for  lunch.  An  old  lady  came  up  to  me  whose 
name  was  Mrs.  Sarah  Mitchell.  She  said,  "Thee  mustn't  feel 
too  bad,  Mr.  Warren,  the  boy  defended  thy  name.  She  was 
brash  in  speaking  of  thee  as  she  did.  Now  thee  will  go  and  get 
thy  boy  and  bring  him  to  me,  for  thee  and  him  must  eat  with 
us."  I  went  and  woke  him  up.  WTe  joined  the  old  lady  and 
her  group  at  lunch. 

There  was  a  gentleman  in  her  group  whose  name  was  Al- 
exander Frazier  and  I  was  very  much  attracted  to  him,  for  I 
found  him  a  perfect  gentleman  and  a  strong  Union  man.  He 
came  from  Baltimore  two  days  previous  to  the  picnic.  He  was 
stopping  at  the  hotel.  One  day  he  invited  Puss  and  me  to  join 
him  at  dinner.  We  did  so.  After  dinner  was  over  we  accom- 
panied him  to  his  room  and  there  I  found  during  his  conver- 
sation that  he  was  a  strong  Union  man ;  that  during  the  war 
he  became  a  spy  for  the  benefit  of  the  Union.  He  said  he  had 


74          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

heard  of  the  Little  One  and  one  evening  he  attended  the  the- 
atre in  Baltimore,  saw  the  Little  One  dance  and  sing  in  a  com- 
edy and  he  said,  "Oh,  how  I  wished  at  the  time  that  I  could 
hold  the  Little  One  on  my  knee."  He  asked  permission  and  I 
granted  it. 

While  he  was  holding  little  Puss  on  his  knee  he  said,  "I 
have  something  very  important  to  speak  of  to  you,  Mr.  War- 
ren. This  Little  One  that  I  -now  hold  on  my  lap  sent  a  bullet 
through  my  brother's  brain  and  he  dropped  from  his  horse  on  to 
the  ground,  a  corpse.  This  Little  One  seized  the  bridle  of  his 
horse,  galloped  off  with  it  and  reached  the  inside  of  the  Union 
lines."  I  said,  "Mr.  Frazier,  that  was  in  war  times,  and  all  is  fair 
in  war,  you  know — so  the  old  song  says."  "At  the  same  time," 
he  said,  "while  my  brother  lay  dead  upon  the  ground,  the  rebels 
were  hunting  me  down  by  his  orders.  I  escaped  back  into  the 
Union  lines.  Four  days  afterwards  there  was  a  man  came  to 
me  at  a  certain  place  and  told  me  of  my  brother's  death.  He 
said  he  was  shot  by  a  little  old  woman  on  horseback,  who  had  a 
strong  Tennessee  accent  and  said  she  was  looking  for  her  son, 
Jeems  O'Willoughby.  This  man  that  gave  me  the  news  was  a 
Southern  man  by  birth,  but  a  Union  man  at  heart.  He  often 
aided  me  in  my  work  inside  of  the  rebel  Inies.  That  man  is 
here  in  Wilmington,  and  will  be  at  the  picnic.  I  will  introduce 
you  to  him.  His  name  is  Clarence  \Vilberforce.  The  other 
evening  when  little  Puss  sang  the  old  maid  song,  he  recognized 
the  voice  of  the  one  that  shot  down  my  brother.  My  brother 
he  said,  tried  to  sieze  the  bridle  of  the  old  woman's  horse,  when 
she  sent  a  ball  through  his  head.  Perhaps  you  wonder  why  I 
want  to  hold  this  Little  One  on  my  lap.  It  is  because,  General 
Warren,  I  know  his  and  your  secret.  He  was  a  Union  spy, 
dreaded  by  the  leaders  of  the  rebel  army.  Warren,  I  am  a  me- 
dium and  have  the  power  of  clairvoyancy,  given  to  me  as  a  gift 
from  nature's  realm  ;  through  my  clairvoyant  condition  I  have 
seen  many  things  that  have  taken  place  in  this  Little  One's  life." 
Puss  looked  up  with  one  of  his  roguish  smiles  and  said,  "Mister, 
will  you  lend  me  a  quarter?"  He  was  getting  tired  sitting  on 
his  lap.  He  asked  permission  to  lay  across  the  foot  of  the  bed, 
which  was  granted,  and  he  went  to  sleep.  Mr.  Frazier  said,  "I 
have  something  further  to  tell  you  that  will  surprise  you.  I 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN 

was  present  one  dark  night,  I  think  it  was  one  of  the  darkest 
nights  I  ever  saw  in  my  life.  Part  of  the  rebel  army  went  into 
camp.  Next  day  they  expected  to  be  paid  in  rebel  money.  The 
wagon  that  had  the  box  with  the  money  in  it  had  a  guard  placed 
around  it  on  the  outside  of  the  camp.  Along  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning  came  along  a  mulatto  boy  with  a  strong  nigger 
dialect.  He  had  a  demijohn  full  of  whiskey,  he  said.  He  told 
them  he  had  stolen  it  from  'dat  yar  house  ober  dar;  he  brought 
it  to  them,  thinging  they  might  want  a  drink,  "cause  he  liked  to 
look  at  sojer  boys.'  He  said,  'Hurry  up  and  drink,  boys,  kase 
dey  might  be  after  me  to  get  cle  demijohn  back.'  The  boys  filled 
up  pretty  well,  declaring  it  was  good  whiskey — also  the  lieu- 
tenant that  had  charge  of  the  men.  I  do  not  think  it  was  half 
an  hour  afterwards  when  they  were  all  fast  asleep,  lying  on  the 
ground.  The  whiskey  was  drugged.  The  boy  in  the  meantime 
went  away,  carrying  the  demijohn  with  him.  He  came  back 
after  all  the  men  were  fast  asleep,  got  into  the  wagon  and 
opened  the  box;  how  he  did  it  I  don't  know,  for  generally  such 
a  box  has  a  good  lock  on  it.  He  set  fire  to  the  money  in  the 
box,  which  of  course  consisted  all  of  rebel  paper  money.  The 
fire  was  not  discovered  until  the  wagon  was  on  fire.  It  was  too 
late  to  save  the  money.  That  little  mulatto  boy  was  that  indi- 
vidual lying  on  the  bed,  for  I  will  tell  you  how  I  know.  As  he 
was  running  away  from  the  wagon  I  stepped  towards  him  in 
the  dark.  He  raised  a  dagger  to  stab  me  when  I  said,  'Go,  boy, 
you  are  free;  you  have  clone  this  for  the  Union.1  He  said,  'Are 
you  not  a  rebel?'  and  then  fled  into  the  darkness.  I  knew  through 
the  clairvoyant  power  I  would  see  just  such  a  scene  that  night." 
He  looked  at  me  and  laughed,  saying,  "Isn't  it  wonderful  that 
he  never  was  killed?"  I  said,  "Oh,  no,  the  voice  told  me  they 
would  take  good  care  of  him." 

Xow  I  will  go  back  to  the  picnic  on  the  Brandywine.  After 
we  had  partaken  of  lunch  the  ladies  carried  the  dishes  down  to 
the  river  to  wash  them.  The  river  bank  is  sloping  and  grand 
trees  grow  all  the  way  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  While  my  Lit- 
tle ( )ne  was  sitting  and  talking  to  old  lady  Mitchell  and  several 
other  friends,  old  lady  Mitchell  was  chiding"  him  for  being  so 
quick  tempered  and  that  he  must  learn  to  control  himself.  While 
she  was  talking  and  advising  him.  some  of  the  men  commenced 


76          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

to  shout  and  cut  up.  The  Little  One,  she  said,  jumped  to  his 
feet  and  looked  up  towards  where  we  were  cutting  up.  A  man 
by  the  name  of  Scott  who  was  quite  a  friend  of  both  Puss  and 
mine,  picked  up  a  large  stone  and  held  it  above  his  head,  struck 
a  tragic  position  and  yelled  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  as  he  had 
seen  Edwin  Forrest  do.  He  said  to  me,  "Now  I  am  going  to 
kill  you,"  and  was  about  to  say  something  else,  which  he  never 
got  the  chance  to  do — that  is,  at  that  time.  My  Little  One 
grabbed  one  of  the  knives  that  had  been  in  use  during  the  lunch ; 
he  gave  a  Highland  yell,  and  before  anyone  could  stop  him  he 
stabbed  Mr.  Scott  with  the  knife.  Fortunately  the  knife  only 
went  a  little  below  the  skin.  It  had  to  go  through  a  vest,  a  dress 
shirt  and  an  undergarment.  The  Little  One  jumped  and  struck 
for  his  heart  with  the  knife.  Mr.  Scott  staggered  a  little.  I 
jumped  to  my  feet  and  grabbed  him  in  my  arms.  Then  I  said, 
"Puss,  see  what  you  have  done."  He  looked  at  me  and  stared 
with  fierce  eyes  and  he  said,  "Weel,  I  hae  done  it,  and  I  don't 
gie  a  damn."  The  next  words  came  in  good  English.  He  said, 
"Papa,  he  was  going  to  kill  you,  and  I  thought  I  would  kill  him 
first."  Mr.  Scott  laughed  and  said,  "You  little  Tartar,  I  wasn't 
going  to  hurt  your  father."  Puss  said,  "Wasn't  he  going  to 
hurt  you,  Papa?"  I  said,  "Why,  no;  we  were  only  acting  out 
and  cutting  up."  Then  the  Little  One  commenced  to  cry,  and 
cried  as  if  his  heart  would  break.  By  that  time  we  had  laid  Mr. 
Scott  on  the  grass,  opened  his  vest,  shirt  and  undergarment  and 
I  was  staunching  the  blood  with  my  white  silk  handkerchief. 

While  the  Little  One  was  crying  and  wringing  his  hands, 
he  got  down  on  his  knees,  kissed  Mr.  Scott,  saying,  "I  thought 
you  were  going  to  kill  papa,  and  then  I'd  be  left  all  alone  in 
the  world."  Mr.  Scott  said,  "There,  there,  now  don't  cry  so 
hard.  I  wasn't  going  to  hurt  your  papa.  It  isn't  anything  very 
serious,  but  it  might  have  been,  you  young  Tartar,  had  the 
knife  been  sharp."  He  looked  at  me  and  said,  "Papa,  your 
handkerchief  ain't  large  enough — we  will  have  to  get  a  larger 
cloth."  There  was  a  lady  stood  near  by  who  had  a  white  apron 
on.  He  grabbed  a  hold  of  it  and  tore  it  off  her,  and  placed  it 
over  the  wound.  The  lady  said,  "You  young  devil,  if  you  had 
asked  me  for  it  I  would  have  untied  it  and  given  it  to  you." 
He  said,  "I  didn't  have  time,"  which  got  the  people  all  to  laugh- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN 

ing.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  same  woman  that  had  made  the 
remark  about  me,  for  which  he  cursed  her. 

The  old  Quaker  lady  said,  "It  does  beat  all.  I  was  just  ad- 
vising him  to  control  his  temper."  Mr.  Frazier  laughed  and 
said,  "You  might  as  soon  control  the  moon  from  shining  at 
night,"  but  thank  God,  Brother  Hulburd,  he  learned  to  control 
a  good  deal  of  it. 

The  Little  One  sat  down  by  Mr.  Scott  and  held  the  cloth 
on  the  wound.  After  awhile  it  stopped  bleeding.  Mr.  Scott 
said,  "Now,  you  young  Highland  Tartar,  if  you'll  sing  some  of 
your  pretty  Scotch  songs  for  me  I  will  forgive  you  and  call  it 
square."  The  Little  One  said,  "Will  you  really  forgive  me  if  I'll 
sing  for  you?"  Mr.  Scott  said,  "Certainly  I  will."  The  Little 
One  kissed  him  and  then  sang  for  him  while  all  the  rest  of  the 
people  sat  around  on  the  grass  listening  to  him.  I  will  never 
forget  that  beautiful  picnic  ground  on  the  banks  of  the  Brandy- 
wine. 

I  invited  Mr.  Scott  to  come  and  stop  with  us  in  Philadel- 
phia until  his  wound  would  heal,  as  the  Little  One  said  he 
wanted  to  nurse  him.  I  tell  you  this,  Brother  Hulburd,  to  show 
the  people  some  of  my  Little  One's  nature,  and  also  that  they 
may  understand  the  picnic  did  not  pass  off  without  some  ex- 
citement, as  picnicers  like  to  have  some  fun  when  they  go  to 
the  woods,  but  not  possibly  that  line  of  fun. 

Mr.  Scott  remained  with  us  until  his  wound  healed.  Our 
friendship  became  greater  than  ever,  as  I  had  given  him  the 
greatest  treat  he  ever  had  in  his  life — that  was  to  watch  the  Lit- 
tle One's  nature  and  the  extreme  points  it  would  go  to.  He 
made  the  discovery,  he  said,  that  my  Little  One's  make-up  was 
full  of  love,  but  when  aroused,  he  became  a  little  demon. 

When  Mr.  Scott  was  parting  with  us  he  said,  "I  have  never 
enjoyed  any  visit  that  I  ever  made  in  my  life  as  I  have  this  one." 
Our  friendship  lasted  as  long  as  I  remained  in  a  physical  body. 

At  another  time  we  attended  a  picnic  given  at  the  Wissi- 
hickon.  It  was  got  up  by  Doctor  Spear  and  his  friends  of  Phila- 
delphia. Great  was  our  joy  that  clay  as  we  had  an  abundance  of 
amusement,  singing,  dancing  and  recitations.  Many  swings 
were  put  up  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  which  they  enjoyed 
largely.  My  Little  One  had  me  swing  him.  He  would  scream 


78          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and  laugh  when  I  would  send  him  away  up  into  the  air.  He 
never  seemed  to  know  what  fear  was. 

Among  the  company  there  was  a  large  number  of  the  people 
who  claimed  to  believe  in  Spiritualism,  or  spirit  return,  as  it 
was  called.  They  said  many  of  their  noted  mediums  were  there 
present  on  that  occasion.  I  remember  one  who  bore  the  name 
of  Anna  Bullene.  They  claimed  she  was  a  wonderful  medium. 
I  did  not  test  her  powers,  therefore  could  not  say  whether  she 
was  or  not. 

Mr.  Spear,  who  was  a  good  deal  of  an  astrologer,  and  had 
studied  astronomy  quite  largely,  I  should  think,  from  his  con- 
versation, was  there.  He  gave  us  a  beautiful  illustration  of 
the  planets  and  their  forces. 

We  would  not  have  gone  to  the  picnic  had  I  known  or  been 
informed  that  many  of  them  were  Spiritualists,  as  I  did  not  wish 
my  Little  One  to  come  in  contact  with  Spiritualists,  for  I  was 
very  much  opposed  to  it  then  and  lived  in  dread  of  my  Little 
One  making  predictions  of  which  he  did  too  much  to  my  liking. 
I  tried  to  smother  it  as  I  thought,  but  I  lived  to  discover  that  I 
was  an  old  fool,  and  it  would  show  itself  at  all  times  and  when- 
ever it  pleased,  much  to  my  disgruntled  nature. 

At  this  picnic  I  am  describing  after  the  people  had  par- 
taken of  food,  they  sat  around  in  a  circle  and  called  on  the  me- 
diums to  display  their  art  by  telling  them  something  of  the 
spirit  world.  There  was  a  man  got  up  who  claimed  to  be  a 
doctor  of  some  kind.  He  walked  around  among  the  people  and 
described  what  he  saw  for  them  through  his  clarvoyant  power. 
Many  claimed  what  he  told  them  was  wonderful.  I  think  the 
people  addressed  him  as  Doctor  Shephard.  I  noticed  after  he 
sat  down  my  Little  One  commenced  to  shake.  I  tried  to  get 
him  to  leave  the  company  and  go  back  and  sit  down  under  the 
trees.  He  said,  no,  he  would  not,  very  decided.  He  released 
himself  from  my  hand,  walked  over  to  where  there  was  a  tall, 
dark-complexioned  man  stood  by  a  tree.  He  had  a  black  beard 
and  mustache  and  large,  dark  eyes.  He  took  hold  of  the  man's 
hand,  at  the  same  time  looking  away  off,  as  it  seemed.  He 
said,  "I  am  on  a  road  that  leads  to  a  coal  mine.  I  see  a  man 
come  up  behind  another  man  and  strike  him  on  the  back  of  the 
head  with  a  hammer.  That  man  falls  to  the  ground  as  if  he 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  79 

were  dead,  the  other  man  searches  through  the  pockets  of  his 
clothes  and  robs  him  of  everything  that  he  has  in  his  pockets ; 
among  these  articles  are  many  bonds  and  a  purse  of  money. 
The  bonds  are  United  States  bonds,  and  that  man  looks  a  little 
like  you." 

The  man  laughed  a  peculiar  laugh  and  said,  "Little  One, 
you  have  made  up  a  pretty  good  story  for  the  amusement  of  the 
people."  The  Little  One  said,  "Perhaps  I  have,  that  man  that 
was  struck  with  the  hammer  is  not  dead  and  he  stands  oVer 
there,  pointing  to  a  man  with  red  hair  and  red  whiskers.  The 
man  with  the  red  hair  and  red  whiskers  jumped  and  grabbed 
the  dark-complexioned  man  by  the  coat  collar,  saying,  "Brother 
Rob,  I  have  got  you  at  last.  I  have  hunted  you  down,  becom- 
ing my  own  detective."  He  then  said,  "Will  some  of  you  men 
assist  me  in  placing  this  man  in  jail?"  This  is  my  brother,  as 
that  little  chap  says,  he  thought  he  had  murdered  me.  After 
he  robbed  me  of  my  government  bonds  and  money  he  got  my 
wife  to  fly  with  him  to  the  West.  He  abandoned  her  there,  after 
stealing  her  money  and  jewelry.  She  was  weak  and  entered  a 
house  of  shame.  I  have  tracked  him  to  this  city.  I  was  in- 
vited here  today  by  Doctor  Spear.  I  never  saw  him  before  with 
a  mustache  or  beard.  His  hair,  mustache  and  beard  are  dyed 
black.  His  natural  hair  in  color  is  sandy,  like  mine," — pulling 
off  his  red  wig.  He  was  assisted  in  taking  the  man  to  the  jail. 
The  man  was  taken  back  to  the  state  of  Illinois,  where  the  deed 
was  committed.  He  was  tried  by  a  jury  and  sentenced  to 
thirty  years'  imprisonment. 

That  is  the  last  picnic  I  ever  attended  with  my  Little  One, 
as  I  had  gotten  all  I  wanted  picnicing  with  a  crowd  of  people. 
I  tried  to  hide  his  mediumship  from  the  people,  but  now  I  can 
see  I  was  foolish  in  doing  so.  We  will  continue  at  another  time. 

Friday,  September  19.  1902. 

Good  morning.  Brother  Hulburd.  I  will  now  continue  my 
communication.  The  medium  was  in  such  a  condition  yester- 
day I  found  it  would  be  difficult  to  control  his  forces — he  is  so 
sensitive  to  the  changes  that  take  place  in  the  atmosphere.  Yes- 
terday the  haze  affected  him  very  much.  It  bore  down  on  his 
condition  and  gave  him  a  stupid  feeling — he  being  so  sensitive, 
all  the  passing  little  breezes  of  wind  affect  him  when  he  is  in 


80          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

that  condition,  so  I  thought  I  would  defer  it  until  today — his 
physical  body  is  far  from  well  now.  He  is  laboring  under  the 
effects  of  heavy  gasses  that  surround  your  home  at  the  present 
time.  You  must  understand  that  when  such  a  condition  as  is 
present  with  you  now  the  gasses  are  heavy  and  more  or  less 
affect  you  all — it  produces  a  tired  feeling  on  the  physical  system. 

In  one  part  of  my  life,  a  Air.  Clifford  and  myself  took  out 
a  company  on  the  road,  called  the  Broadway  Company.  We 
did  well  for  the  number  of  months  we  were  on  the  road.  We 
both  cleared  over  forty  thousand  dollars — that  is,  Mr.  Clifford 
and  myself.  We  struck  good  weather  all  the  time  and  had  a 
brilliant  comedy  company,  which  received  a  great  deal  of  praise 
through  the  newspapers.  My  Little  One  was  the  star.  We 
played  a  comedy  called  "The  Sins  of  the  People."  Mr.  Clifford's 
wife  and  my  Little  One  were  great  cards  in  their  singing  and 
/lancing  and  comedy  acting — as  you  know  Little  Puss  was  called 
the  "peerless  queen  of  burlesque  and  comedy."  I  see  you  have 
one  of  the  programs  here  in  your  house  which  can  testify  to 
what  I  say. 

But  that  which  I  wish  to  express  to  you  is  related  to  an 
occurrence  that  took  place  in  the  company,  or  I  should  say, 
an  unfortunate  condition  was  brought  to  bear  by  one  of  the 
members  of  the  company — a  man  that  was  very  aggravating. 
His  w7hole  makeup  was  that  of  tantalizing  other  individuals. 
One  day  he  thought  he  would  get  off  some  of  his  funny  busi- 
ness on  my  Little  One.  Puss  warned  him  to  desist  and  attend 
to  his  own  affairs.  He  did  not  heed  the  warning  and  carried 
his  funny  business  a  little  too  far.  He  held  a  large  pocket  knife 
in  his  hand  and  kept  thrusting  it  toward  the  Little  One.  Puss 
seized  it  and  as  quick  as  I  can  tell  it,  stabbed  him  through  the 
center  of  the  hand  and  left  the  knife  sticking  there.  The  man 
fainted  and  fell  to  the  floor. 

This  occurrence  of  which  I  tell  you  took  place  in  the  green 
room  at  the  Cincinnati  Theater.  After  he  recovered — that  is, 
this  Mr.  McCracken,  whose  full  name,  as  I  remember  it,  was 
George  McCracken — he  threatened  to  have  Little  Puss  arrested 
when  the  whole  company  said,  "If  you  do  it  will  be  a  bad  day  for 
you."  for  they  all  declared  they  would  go  into  court  and  swear 
on  oath  that  he  tantalized  and  aggravated  the  Little  One  to 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  81 

commit  the  deed.  He  saw  he  had  the  whole  company  against 
him  ;  therefore  did  nothing  toward  having  him  arrested. 

During  the  time  he  remained  with  the  company,  which  was 
two  months  longer,  he  remained  very  docile  and  wasn't  quite  so 
funny.  His  gags  were  less  and  he  paid  more  attention  to  his 
own  business. 

My  Little  One  was  very  sorry  that  he  had  committed  the 
deed.  When  I  took  him  to  task  and  scolded  him  somewhat  for 
being  so  rash  in  doing  such  a  thing  as  that,  he  looked  up  at  me 
with  those  eyes  of  his,  saying,  "Papa  Warren,  he  acted  so  I 
just  had  to  do  it ;  he  was  too  fresh  and  required  civilizing."  I 
laughed  right  out  and  could  scold  him  no  longer,  as  I  was  glad 
he  did  not  stab  him  anywhere  near  the  heart,  which  might  have 
resulted  in  a  murder.  Oh,  that  Highland  temper  of  his  was 
hard  to  control ;  but  as  years  went  on  he  controlled  it  more  and 
more  all  the  time.  I  had  great  delight  in  seeing  that  my  edu- 
cation had  some  effect  upon  him. 

Every  once  in  a  while,  or  perhaps  I  should  say,  every  other 
day,  he  would  give  several  screams,  yell  just  as  loud  as  his  vocal 
powers  would  permit.  After  that  he  would  quiet  down  when 
he  would  look  at  me  with  a  smile  on  his  lips  and  a  roguish  look 
in  his  eyes,  saying,  "Papa,  I  feel  better  now.  I  had  to  scream 
or  I  believe  I  would  have  burst  my  gizzard."  That  was  a  great 
expression  of  his ;  when  he  would  get  angry  with  anyone  he 
would  say,  "Papa,  I  am  so  mad  I  could  just  chew  their  gizzard 
up."  It  would  make  me  laugh,  for  I  thought  it  was  such  a  pe- 
culiar expression.  I  must  tell  you  here  that  he  had  one  of  the 
worst  tempers  I  ever  saw  in  a  human  being.  After  he  would 
get  out  from  under  that  condition  the  members  of  the  company 
could  borrow  anything  he  had,  even  to  his  diamond  rings,  of 
which  he  had  seven. 

Xo\v  [  will  relate  to  you  a  funny  little  occurrence  that 
took  place  in  a  boat  on  a  river.  This  will  give  you  an  idea  of 
his  nature. 

With  a  number  of  friends  we  were  in  a  boat  on  the  Dele- 
ware.  <  )ne  of  the  men  had  been  drinking  some  and  became  rather 
abusive.  He  was  a  militarv  officer  and  quite  prominent  at  one 
time  in  the  field,  but  here  I  will  withhold  his  name  from  the 
public. 


82 

During  one  of  his  abusive  fits,  or  spells,  perhaps  you  would 
call  it,  the  Little  One  crept  up  behind  him  and  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  little  body,  pushed  the  man  overboard.  He  al- 
ways did  everything  quick  and  before  I  could  grab  him,  he,  too, 
jumped  overboard  after  the  man.  After  a  good  deal  of  labor 
and  hard  work,  we  got  them  both  into  the  boat  again. 

I  said  to  Little  Puss,  "What  in  the  name  of  Heaven  did 
you  jump  into  the  river  for?"  He  said,  "To  save  him,"  which 
was  the  cause  of  a  big  laugh,  it  being  so  ridiculous  for  anyone 
to  think  that  a  little  creature  like  him  could  save  such  a  big 
man  from  drowning.  I  said,  "What  did  you  push  him  out  of 
the  boat  for?"  He  said,  "I  thought  a  ducking  would  sober  him 
up,"  and  I  think  myself,  when  they  laid  the  man  out  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  boat,  he  commenced  to  revive  and  at  the  same  time 
grew  into  a  sober  and  wiser  man.  That  night  he  signed  a  pledge, 
saying  that  liquor  should  never  pass  his  lips  again,  and  I  believe 
he  kept  his  word,  for  I  never  saw  him  under  the  influence  of 
liquor  after  that. 

I  conveyed  my  Little  One  to  our  home  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible, for  he  was  soaking  wet,  put  him  to  bed,  gave  him  a  hot 
lemonade  and  he  was  all  right  next  morning.  The  officer's 
friends  looked  after  his  welfare.  After  that  occurrence  he  be- 
came a  changed  man  and  his  family  was  proud  of  him.  He  al- 
ways called  the  .Little  One  his  savior,  and  on  Little  Puss's  bene- 
fit night  the  family  presented  Puss  with  a  diamond  ring. 

While  we  were  stopping  at  one  of  the  large  hotels  at  At- 
lantic City,  New  Jersey,  Little  Puss  said  one  morning  to  me, 
"Papa,  I  don't  like  to  live  in  such  a  large  hotel.  Can't  we  rent  a 
furnished  cottage?"  I  said,  "If  you  wish  it."  Finally,  we 
rented  a  furnished  cottage,  invited  the  lady  with  whom  we  were 
boarding  in  Philadelphia  and  her  maid  to  occupy  the  cottage 
with  us.  It  was  a  cottage  of  five  rooms,  and  we  did  not  require 
so  many.  After  we  had  lived  in  the  cottage  a  week,  my  friend 
and  brother  officer.  General  Meade,  made  us  a  visit. 

One  evening  during  his  visit,  after  we  had  returned  from  the 
hotel,  where  we  dined  a  gentleman  who  had  been  a  lieutenant 
in  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  accompanied  us  to  the  cottage.  His 
name  I  cannot  recall  just  now.  He  was  a  first  lieutenant,  and  if 
ever  his  eye  should  peruse  this  communication  it  will  recall  to 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  83 

his  memory  the  condition  of  that  evening — that  is,  the  condition 
it  found  us  all  in.  When  we  had  opened  the  door  and  entered 
the  cottage  we  saw  a  tall,  dark  form  gliding  toward  one  of  the 
sleeping  rooms.  I  followed  it  up  and  just  saw  it  as  it  was  van- 
ishing through  the  ceiling.  I  came  back  into  the  center  room 
and  said,  "How  strange  that  was.  I  was  there  just  in  time  to 
see  the  apparition  vanish  through  the  ceiling."  The  lady  living 
with  us  said,  "How  strange  it  was ;  I  would  have  believed  it  to 
have  been  imagination,  if  we  had  not  all  seen  it  at  the  same 
time."  Brother  Meade  laughed  and  said,  "It's  some  of  Puss's 
spooks  after  him ;  perhaps  it  was  Old  Xick,  himself,  for  you 
know,  some  people  say  Puss  belongs  to  Old  Nick."  Just  then 
the  table  slid  along  the  carpet  toward  the  lieutenant  and  went 
up  and  down  three  times. 

The  lieutenant  commenced  to  laugh,  and  said,  "Someone 
here  must  be  a  witch."  When  he  said  that  the  table  slid  back 
to  the  center  of  the  room,  turned  around  on  its  legs  three  times. 
After  it  had  done  that  I  noticed  my  Little  One's  body  commenced 
to  tremble.  I  took  him  in  my  arms  and  sat  down  on  the  sofa 
with  him.  I  placed  his  head  under  my  coat,  foolishly  thinking 
I  could  prevent  them  from  talking.  The  voice  spoke  and  said 
to  the  lieutenant,  "I  am  your  uncle,"  and  I  think  he  called  him- 
self, "Uncle  Ezra," — I  was  murdered  in  this  cottage  for  my 
money  by  a  woman  that  I  came  here  to  live  with — one  that  I 
had  taken  out  of  a  house  of  prostitution.  She  went  by  the  name 
of  Belle  Fletcher.  It  was  my  spirit  you  saw  this  evening.  I 
want  you  to  hunt  that  woman  down.  She  lives  on  Brown 
street,  above  Tenth.  Philadelphia.  Tell  my  wife  that  I  deposited 
a  will  with  Judge  Brewster.  See  that  you  do  as  I  bid  you  ;  if 
you  don't  I  will  make  it  hot  for  you."  Then  the  spirit  left. 

The  lieutenant  left  the  next  morning  for  Philadelphia  to 
see  if  he  could  discover  the  whereabouts  of  that  woman,  and  if 
such  a  person  existed.  He  found  where  she  had  been;  that  is, 
where  she  had  roomed,  but  had  left  that  same  evening  for  Chi- 
cago— the  evening  which  I  speak  of  when  we  were  all  assembled 
in  the  cottage. 

\\  e  heard  afterwards  that  such  a  woman  did  exist  ami  was 
killed  in  a  railroad  accident  near  Pittsburg.  She  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fletcher.  Mr.  Fletcher  was  employed  in 


84 

a  printing  office.  The  mother,  Mrs.  Fletcher,  taught  music.  The 
daughter  had  always  been  a  wayward  child  and  it  looked  as  if 
they  were  not  capable  of  controlling  her.  She  was  led  astray 
by  a  young  man  studying  for  the  ministry.  She  left  home  and 
lived  with  him  for  six  months,  adandoing  him,  she  took  up  with 
a  gambler  who  finally  placed  her  in  a  house  of  prostitution.  Her 
father  told  me,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  that  he  was  glad  wrhen  he 
heard  of  her  death.  He  said  her  name  was  Jennie  Fletcher,  not 
Belle  Fletcher,  as  the  paper  said. 

One  day,  the  Little  One  and  I  were  visiting  at  a  Colonel's 
home  in  Xew  Jersey.  AYhile  there  a  lady  also  made  a  visit  at 
the  home.  I  think  she  called  herself  either  Mrs.  Mellon  or  Mrs. 
Ellen.  I  have  forgotten  just  which  of  the  names  she  bore  then, 
but  I  am  confident  it  was  one  of  those  that  I  have  just  given 
you.  She  came  to  where  the  colonel  and  I  were  sitting  in  the 
garden  under  a  large  maple  tree.  It  was  the  largest  maple  tree 
I  ever  saw,  and  formed  a  fine  shade  for  anyone  to  sit  under. 
She  came  towards  us,  smiling,  saying.  "Gentlemen,  do  I  in- 
trude?'' The  Colonel  said,  "Xot  at  all,  madam." 

She  sat  down  alongside  of  me  on  the  grass  and  .after  be- 
coming seated  she  took  a  letter  out  of  her  pocket,  saying,  "Gen- 
tlemen, listen  to  me.  I  have  here  a  letter  in  which  I  have  been 
presented  an  offer  of  marriage."  That  was  the  first  time  I  dis- 
covered she  was  a  widow.  I  said,  "Then,  your  husband  is  not 
living?"  She  said,  "Oh.  no;  he  had  been  dead  three  years.  Xo\v, 
gentlemen.  I  want  to  read  you  that  letter,"  which  act  I  thought 
was  very  weak  on  her  part  to  do  and  did  not  think  it  was  dis- 
creet for  her  to  read  another  gentleman's  letter  to  us :  however, 
she  read  it.  In  it  were  great  protestations  of  love  and  a  valu- 
able offer  of  marriage.  That  is,  such  an  offer  would  have  been 
very  valuable  to  many  women  looking  for  a  husband.  After 
she  read  the  letter  she  placed  it  in  her  pocket,  saying,  "Gentle- 
men, what  do  you  think  of  that?"  at  the  same  time  looking 
into  my  face  with  a  gracious  smile.  The  Colonel  said.  "That 
is  a  big  thing  if  you  can  close  it  up,  Xell.  Just  think  of  the 
gowns  and  jewels  you  can  wear."  She  said.  "What  does  Mr. 
\Yarren  think  of  it?"  I  told  her  that  was  what  women  gener- 
ally looked  for — plenty  of  money  and  a  fine  home  to  live  in. 
She  said  in  a  verv  arched  wav,  "Don't  vou  think  that  Love 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN 

ought  to  play  a  part  in  it?"  Oh,  I  said,  "Love  is  an  outside 
issue  with  many  women.  If  there  is  any  Love  in  it  that  comes 
afterwards."  She  said,  "You  men  are  a  hard  class  of  people  to 
deal  with."  I  discovered  then  she  was  a  little  on  the  order  of  a 
flirt,  from  her  manner  of  speech. 

During  the  time  this  conversation  was  going  on,  my  Little 
One  was  off  at  a  distance  swinging  with  the  children. 

That  evening  after  dinner  I  was  walking  through  the  park 
smoking  a  cigar.  I  was  alone,  my  Little  One  had  gone  on  a 
donkey  cart  to  the  village  with  the  other  children  of  the  home. 
I  leaned  up  against  a  large  oak  tree,  while  I  was  knocking  the 
ashes  off  my  cigar  I  lifted  up  my  foot  to  strike  a  match  on  my 
heel  in  order  to  relight  my  cigar,  and  while  I  was  in  the  act  of 
doing  so  I  heard  footsteps  approaching  and  the  rustling  of  a 
woman's  dress — that  same  lady  that  had  the  valuable  offer  of 
marriage  presented  to  her,  came  direct  to  me,  saying,  "Mr. 
Warren,  I  have  found  you.  Oh,  it  is  so  dull  up  at  the  house, 
and  I  came  out  to  get  the  evening  air.  I  do  so  love  to  ramble 
among  the  trees.  Are  you  sorry  I  came?  Perhaps  I  broke  up 
your  thoughts  and  scattered  them."  I  said.  "Oh,  not  at  all.  I 
was  only  thinking  how  my  Little  One  will  enjoy  the  ride  in  the 
donkey  cart."  She  said,  "He  seems  very  precious  to  you,  and  I 
should  think  his  mother  would  not  like  to  spare  him  away  so 
long  from  her  company."  I  said,  "As  to  that,  madam,  he  has  no 
mother."  She  said,  "What  are  you — a  widower?"  I  said,  "I  am 
anything,  madam,  that  you  wish  me  to  be  at  the  present." 
"Oh,  then,"  she  said,  "we  will  take  a  ramble  through  the  trees. 
Just  imagine  yourself  Apollo  and  I  am  Diana  come  to  greet  his 
lordship  in  the  woods."  Then  she  gave  a  coquettish  laugh  and 
placed  her  arm  through  mine.  We  strolled  under  the  trees  and 
were  silent  for  some  time.  She  broke  the  monotony  by  saying. 
"Did  the  Colonel  tell  you  that  I  was  a  sweetheart  of  his  once?" 
I  said,  "Xo.  madam,  I  never  heard  of  you  until  today,  when  we 
met  at  the  lunch  table."  She  said,  "Well,  I  was,  and  we  were 
very  happy  in  each  other's  love  until  that  woman  came  between 
us,"  meaning  his  wife.  We  walked  along  for  some  time  and 
neither  spoke  to  the  other,  when  all  of  a  sudden  she  burst  out  in 
a  passion,  saying.  "I  hate  her!  I  hate  her!"  I  said,  "Madam, 
vou  should  not  hate  her:  it  was  to  be."  She  said.  "lust  stand 


86          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

here  and  let  us  look  at  that  beautiful  sunset.  Oh !  isn't  it  glori- 
ous?" and  just  then  she  threw  her  arms  around  my  neck,  pulling 
my  face  down  to  hers,  kissing  me  very  passionately.  She  said, 
"General,  I  love  you.  My  soul  has  loved  you  since  my  eyes 
first  looked  upon  your  manly  form."  I  said,  "Madam,  I  am 
sorry  to  hear  you  talk  like  this,"  for  I  commenced  to  think  she 
was  a  little  'gone  in  the  upper  story,'  as  the  boys  say.  She 
kissed  my  hand  passionately  and  then  threw  herself  on  to  my 
breast — that  is,  as  far  as  her  head  could  reach.  She  commenced 
to  cry,  and  said,  "Oh,  tell  me,  tell  me  that  you  have  some  love 
for  me  in  your  heart."  I  said,  I  was  afraid  it  hadn't  reached 
there  just  yet.  She  said,  "Tell  me  that  you  will  marry  me  and 
no  other  woman."  I  commenced  to  think  I  had  a  lunatic  to 
deal  with  and  thought  we  had  better  get  back  to  the  house.  I 
told  her  we  had  better  retrace  our  steps  back  toward  the  house, 
the  family  would  be  lo.oking  for  us  to  play  that  game  of  cards 
we  had  promised  to  do.  She  took  my  arm  and  we  walked  back 
toward  the  house.  When  we  had  returned  about  half  the  dis- 
tance from  that  point  where  she  had  confessed  her  love  for  me, 
my  Little  One  and  two  of  the  other  children  came  running  up 
to  meet  us.  They  were  laughing  and  saying  at  the  same  time, 
"Oh,  we  have  found  you,  you  naughty  people.  You  went  into 
the  woods  to  talk  to  the  fairies,  didn't  you?" 

We  returned  to  the  house.  She  said  to  me,  "You  be  my 
partner  at  the  table,  won't  you?"  I  said,  "All  right."  We  played 
several  games  of  cards  that  evening.  As  my  Little  One  was  go- 
ing upstairs  to  our  room,  Barbara,  the  maid,  brought  him  a 
glass  of  lemonade,  which  he  thought  was  very  kind  in  her  to  do. 

In  about  an  hour  after  that  he  was  seized  by  terrible  pains 
in  the  region  of  his  stomach  and  bowels.  He  commenced  to 
vomit  and  vomited  for  about  half  an  hour  into  a  basin  that  I 
held  for  him.  The  family  became  alarmed  and  the  Colonel  and 
his  wife  and  that  woman  came  to  onr  room  to  see  if  they  could 
assist  me  in  any  way. 

The  family  became  alarmed  and  the  Colonel  and  his  wife 
and  that  woman  came  to  onr  room  to  see  if  they  could  assist 
me  in  any  way. 

The  Colonel's  wife  said,  "He  vomits  like  one  that  has  been 
poisoned."  The  Colonel  took  the  lamp  from  the  table,  came  tow- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  87 

arc!  the  bed,  held  it  alongside  of  the  basin  in  order  that  his  wife 
might  look  into  the  basin.  When  she  had  done  so  she  said,  "Good 
God,  he  has  been  poisoned  by  someone — just  look  at  that  green 
froth  there."  We  did  so  and  discovered  there  was  some  green 
material  that  must  have  been  placed  in  the  lemonade.  I  told 
the  Colonel  and  his  lady  that  Barbara  the  maid,  had  handed  him 
a  lemonade  before  he  reached  our  room.  She  and  the  children 
were  standing  outside  of  the  open  door  while  I  pronounced 
those  words.  She  entered  and  said,  "Yes,  I  handed  him  a  lemon- 
ade," and  as  she  said  so  that  woman  tried  to  leave  the  room, 
but  Barbara  the  maid,  barred  the  way,  and  the  woman  grabbed 
Barbara  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  saying,  "You  she  devil,  let  me 
pass,"  but  Barbara  and  the  children  held  the  woman,  Barbara 
struck  the  woman  in  the  face  several  times  when  she  released 
her  hold.  Barbara  said,  "This  woman  gave  me  the  lemonade  to 
hand  to  the  Little  One,  saying,  'Give  that  to  the  little  dear.  I 
think  he  is  so  nice.'  " 

The  woman  appealed  to  the  Colonel,  saying,  "Oh,  save  me, 
as  you  know  I  am  the  mother  of  two  of  your  children  that  we 
have  placed  in  school.  I  fell  in  love  with  that  man,  Warren, 
and  knew  that  I  could  not  possess  him  for  a  husband,  or  even 
gain  his  love  until  I  put  that  boy  out  of  the  way.  I  am  a 
wicked  woman,  William,  and  have  mercy  on  me,  as  once  you 
loved  me."  I  grabbed  the  woman,  held  her  two  wrists  together 
while  Barbara  tied  her  apron  tight  around  them.  The  Colonel's 
lady  said,  "You  wicked  woman,  I  see  nothing  for  you  now  but 
the  penitentiary."  She  left  the  room,  returning  with  a  drug  in 
a  bottle,  saying,  "Give  five  drops  of  that  every  ten  minutes  until 
we  get  some  strong  black  coffee  made." 

When  Barbara  brought  the  black  coffee  to  the  room  we 
gave  him  all  he  could  drink  of  it,  which,  I  think  saved  his  life. 
In  an  hour  after  he  had  drunk  a  large  quantity  of  the  black 
coffee  he  commenced  to  vomit  again.  After  he  had  finished 
we  examined  the  vomit  and  found  but  very  little  of  the  green 
ingredient  that  the  lemonade  contained. 

When  Barbara,  the  children  and  the  Colonel's  lady  had 
left  the  room  the  Colonel  shut  the  door.  lie  went  in  front  of 
that  woman,  saying.  "Xell,  God  damn  you,  for  a  bitch  out  of 
hell,  what  brought  you  here  today?"  She  said.  "I  came  to  get 


88  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

more  money,  and  if  you  don't  give  it  to  me,  I  intended  to  ex- 
pose you  to  your  wife  by  telling  her  of  a  murder  you  com- 
mitted." "A  murder,  you  bitch  !" — and  before  I  could  prevent 
him,  he  struck  her  a  blow  in  the  face  which  knocked  her  off  the 
chair.  I  grabbed  hold  of  him  as  he  was  about  to  kick  her.  I 
said,  "Don't  do  that,  Colonel ;  she  is  a  woman,  no  matter  how 
low  she  has  become."  She  screeched  out,  "Yes;  he  is  a  murder- 
er. He  strangled  his  first  child  that  I  gave  birth  to."  He  said, 
"You  fiend  out  of  hell,  who  told  me  to  do  it  but  you?"  She 
laughed  and  said,  "When  I  came  here  I  saw  this  man  Warren 
and  fell  in  love  with  him,  then  I  relented  of  my  purpose  with 
you.  You  see  we  are  both  murderers.  Xow,  do  your  best. 
Who  bought  this  beautiful  home  for  you?  I  did  with  the  money 
that  I  stole  from  my  father.  Curses  on  you  !  You  got  me  to 
poison  my  father  and  then  rob  him.  Oh,  you  pass  in  the  church 
for  a  fine  Christian  gentleman.  You  wrote  me  you  could  not 
let  me  have  any  more  money  and  I  discovered  the  arsenic  you 
had  placed  in  the  letters,  for  I  loved  you  with  a  demon's  love, 
and  now,  curse  you,  we  will  go  to  prison  together,"  and  before 
I  could  prevent  it  he  kicked  her  in  the  region  of  the  heart.  She 
fell  back  on  the  floor  and  in  a  few  minutes'  her  spirit  left  her 
body. 

They  returned  bringing  the  coffee  which  saved  my  Puss's 
life. 

When  the  Colonel's  lady  saw  the  woman  lying  on  the  floor 
she  said,  "\Yhat  is  the  matter  with  her?  The  Colonel  was  shak- 
ing, as  if  he  had  the  ague.  I  spoke  up  quickly,  and  said,  "The 
unfortunate  creature  died  in  a  fit."  She  said,  "God  help  us. 
What  have  we  done  to  bring  such  trouble  on  our  house?"  I 
said,  "Nothing,  madam,  whatever;  that  unfortunate  woman, 
pointing  at  the  body,  was  insane  and  took  your  husband  for  some 
man  that  she  had  been  acquainted  with.  That  is  all." 

The  Colonel  staggerred  out  of  the  room,  went  to  his  own 
room.  In  a  few  minutes  we  heard  the  report  of  a  pistol.  The 
Colonel's  wife.  I'arbara  and  the  children  rushed  to  his  room.  I 
could  not  leave  my  Little  One  to  go  then.  I  heard  a  scream. 
Barbara  came  back  wild  with  fear,  pointing  to  the  room  and  tell- 
ing me  the  Colonel  had  shot  himself  and  that  he  lay  dead  on  the 
floor.  I  said  to  mv  self,  "Oh,  why  did  we  come  here  to  witness 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  89 

all  this  misery?"  I  remained  with  the  family  until  the  Colonel 
and  that  woman  were  laid  away  in  the  village  churchyard. 

I  gave  the  broken-hearted  woman  and  her  children  some  good 
advice,  then  left,  taking  my  Little  One  with  me.  I  made  him 
promise  me  he  never  would  receive  a  drink  of  any  kind  in  the 
future  from  a  stranger. 

We  will  continue  at  another  time. 

Saturday,  September  20,  1902. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  Your  sky  is  overcast 
with  clouds  this  morning. 

I  wish  to  relate  an  occurrance  that  occurred  in  Baltimore. 
One  evening  my  Little  One  and  myself  were  walking  toward  the 
theater.  As  we  were  walking  along  my  Little  One  said,  "Papa, 
I  feel  queer."  \Yhen  we  had  walked  a  few  rods  further,  all  of  a 
sudden  he  gave  a  terrible  scream.  He  said,  "Oh,  papa,  I  be- 
lieve I  am  shot,  right  here,"  placing  his  hand  over  his  right 
breast.  He  staggered  and  I  caught  him  in  my  arms. 

\Yhile  I  was  holding  him  I  saw  a  man  coming  toward  us.  I 
noticed  he  was  a  heavy  built  man  with  a  black  beard  that  was 
quite  long.  As  he  was  walking  toward  us  another  man  stepped 
out  of  a  doorway,  saying,  "God  damn  you,  I've  got  you  now," 
and  shot  him  right  through  the  breast.  The  heavy  man  fell  to 
the  sidewalk,  crying  out,  "My  God,  "Will,  you  have  killed  me  !" 
The  other  one  said,  "I  meant  to,  damn  you."  Three  men  grabbed 
the  murderer  and  held  him  until  a  policeman  came  up  and  put 
the  bracelets  on  him. 

The  remarkable  part  of  it  was  that  as  soon  as  that  man  was 
shot,  the  pain  left  the  Little  One  and  he  was  all  right. 

\\  e  stepped  forward  and  they  were  examining  the  wound 
to  see  what  they  could  do  for  him  before  the}'  placed  him  in  a 
carriage  to  take  him  home.  I  discovered  where  he  was  shot 
corresponded  to  the  same  place  where  my  Little  (hie  put  his 
hand  when  lie  gave  that  terrible  scream. 

About  a  month  afterward,  while  1  was  visiting  a  clubroom. 
some  of  the  gentlemen  there  present  got  to  talking  about  the 
man  that  was  shot.  A  Mr.  Kelso  said.  "I'.y  the  way.  Warren. 
that  man  had  a  strong  psychological  power  and  had  been  usin.^ 
it  on  the  man  that  shot  him.  lie  compelled  him  to  tell  a  young 


90 

lady  that  he  was  engaged  to  he  would  not  marry  her.  She  be- 
came angry,  ordered  him  out  of  the  house.  Next  day  she  ac- 
cepted another  man's  offer  and  got  married." 

When  that  man  was  released  and  came  to  his  senses  he 
borrowed  a  pistol  from  his  brother,  laid  in  waiting  for  the  other 
man  to  come  along,  stepped  out  and  shot  him  as  the  man  ap- 
proached. A  Mr.  Booth,  an  actor,  who  bore  the  name  of  Junius 
Brutus  Booth,  I  think,  said,  "By  the  way,  Warren,  I  heard  that 
man  make  a  bet  that  he  could  psychologize  your  Little  One,  as 
you  call  him,  that  he  could  not  play  that  night.  The  bet  was 
for  a  hundred  dollars."  I  possibly  think  that  evening  as  the 
man  approached  he  was  trying  to  force  his  power  upon  my 
Little  One.  I  think  that  is  why  the  Little  One  becme  so  sym- 
pathetic with  the  condition  that  was  to  take  place. 

When  I  told  the  gentlemen  in  the  clubroom  how  my  Little 
One  screamed  and  said  he  believed  he  was  shot  just  a  few  min- 
utes before  the  shooting  took  place,  I  told  him  when  the  man 
was  shot  the  peculiar  feeling  left  the  Little  One  and  he  seemed 
be  relieved  of  the  pain.  They  all  remarked  how  singular  that 
was. 

Another  peculiar  occurrence  took  place  while  we  were  in 
Baltimore.  In  the  dining  room  one  morning  the  headwaiter 
gave  us  seats  at  a  table  with  a  young  lady  and  gentleman  who 
seemed  to  have  been  recently  married.  While  we  were  sitting  at 
the  table  I  heard  the  gentleman  say  to  the  lady,  "I  believe  that  is 
the  little  star  sitting  opposite  us."  The  lady  said,  "What  a  small 
hand  he  has  and  isn't  it  a  beautiful  shape?"  Just  then  the 
Little  One  became  silent  and  did  not  eat  any  more.  I  whis- 
pered to  him,  "Pet,  do  you  feel  sick?"  He  did  not  answer  me. 
After  a  little  he  spoke  and  said,  "Lady,  take  the  next  train  for 
your  home.  Your  mother  is  dying.  See  to  it  that  you  do  not  fail 
to  take  the  next  train."  The  lady  became  pale  and  left  the 
dining-room  with  her  husband.  The  man  told  the  landlord 
what  the  Little  One  had  said,  paid  his  bill  and  said  they  would 
leave  by  the  next  train. 

The  landlord  requested  the  man  to  telegraph  him  if  any- 
thing should  come  out  of  it,  and  he  would  pay  for  the  telegram. 

Xext  day  the  landlord  received  a  telegram  and  it  read  thus, 
"My  wife's  mother  died  last  night  at  half  past  ten.  That  little 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  91 

creature  is  a  witch,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  right  for  you  to  keep 
him  in  your  house."  The  landlord  laughed  and  showed  me  the 
telegram. 

There  were  two  old  gentlemen  living  in  Baltimore  who  were 
great  friends  of  the  Little  One.  He  met  them  in  Baltimore  be- 
fore I  became  acquainted  with  him.  After  he  had  finished  his 
engagement  at  the  theater  they  sent  us  an  invitation  to  come 
and  visit  with  them  a  week  at  their  plantation.  \Ye  accepted 
the  invitation  and  went.  The  Little  One  enjoyed  it  very  much, 
as  he  liked  to  talk  to  the  darkies. 

One  afternoon  about  four  o'clock  we  were  sitting  in  the 
parlor — but  first  let  me  explain  to  you  how  I  will  designate 
these  two  men — I  will  describe  them  thus — the  oldest  one  was 
six  feet,  four  inches  tall  and  rather  a  heavy-built  man.  The 
other  one  was  a  small,  slender  individual  and  stood  about  five 
feet. 

While  we  were  sitting  in  the  parlor  there,  as  I  described 
before,  a  carriage  drove  up  containing  three  ladies  and  a  gentle- 
man. Two  negroes  attended  to  their  horses.  The  three  ladies 
got  out  of  their  carriage,  entered  the  house ;  the  gentlman  that 
accompanied  them  remained  sitting  in  the  front  seat.  He  en- 
tered into  conversation  with  the  tall  gentleman,  six  feet  four, 
whose  name  was  Carrington.  After  a  while  the  two  gentle- 
men entered  the  house,  came  into  the  parlor  and  sat  clown  on 
the  sofa. 

Hefore  they  entered  the  house  the  ladies  and  we  became 
quite  sociable  in  conversation. 

\Yhcn  the  other  two  gentlemen  entered  the  parlor  Puss 
and  myself  arose,  were  introduced  to  the  gentleman  who  bore 
the  name  of  Cecil  Harrington.  During  conversation  we  made 
the  discovery  that  one  of  the  ladies  was  his  wife — the  other  two 
being  his  sisters.  The  little  one  that  stood  five  feet  bore  the 
name  of  Alonza  Ramsdale.  They  all  addressed  him  as  Lon. 

In  a  little  while  after  we  were  all  comfortably  seated  in  the 
parlor  a  colored  maid  entered  and  presented  each  with  a  cup  of 
chocolate.  Lon  said,  "Puss,  these  cups  and  saucers  belonged 
to  Mr.  Carrington's  great  grandmother:  they  were  brought  over 
from  England."  I  noticed  the  cups  had  no  handles  to  them. 

While   we   were   talking  about   going   to   play   croquet.    Mr. 


92          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Carrington  said,  "Puss,  I  want  to  make  you  a  present  of  one  of 
those  cups  and  saucers  and  a  plate  that  belonged  to  my  great 
grandmother." 

After  that  the  three  ladies,  Mr.  Barrington,  Mr.  Carrington 
and  myself  went  out  to  play  croquet.  Lon  said,  "I  want  to  take 
Justin  through  the  plantation  house  and  show  him  what  quaint 
looking  rooms  there  are  in  this  house."  While  they  were  up- 
stairs in  one  of  the  rooms,  my  Little  One  said  to  Lon,  "There  is 
an  old  lady  here ;  she  is  tall  and  slender  and  one  that  I  should 
judge  when  she  lived  in  the  body  was  quite  dignified.  She 
points  for  you  to  open  that  closet  door  and  wants  you  to  climb 
up  to  the  top  shelf  and  get  that  old  tea  caddy  up  there  and  bring 
it  down."  Lon  called  one  of  the  servants  to  bring  a  step-ladder. 
When  the  servant  did  so  he  climbed  up,  got  a  hold  of  the  old 
tea  caddy,  saying,  "Why  it's  quite  heavy,  Puss,  I  wonder  what 
can  be  in  it."  He  handed  it  to  a  servant  who  placed  it  on  a 
table.  He  got  down  off  the  stepladder,  saying  to  the  servant, 
"Bring  a  cloth  and  dust  it  off.  It  must  have  lain  up  on  that 
shelf  a  good  many  years."  Lon  said  to  Puss,  "Now,  you  shall 
have  the  honor  of  opening  it.  Perhaps  it  contains  some  valu- 
a'Ae  treasure.  I  always  thought  that  I  was  an  Aladdin  and 
should  find  some  vast  wealth  laid  away  somewheres,"  which 
made  the  colored  servant  laugh.  Puss  attempted  to  open  it, 
but  found  it  was  locked. 

The  servant  had  to  go  forthwith  and  bring  all  the  keys  that 
were  in  the  mansion — trunk  keys,  bureau  keys  and  any  key  that 
she  thought  would  answer  the  purpose.  Finally,  a  key  of  a 
music  box  undid  the  lock.  Puss  raised  the  lid  and  the  first 
thing  they  discovered  was  some  papers  and  letters  from  Eng- 
land. The  next  thing  they  discovered  was  a  ladies  embroidered 
cap.  In  that  cap  was  some  valuable  jewelry.  There  was  a 
lady's  large  brooch  with  a  beautiful  emerald  in  the  center,  sur- 
rounded by  nineteen  diamonds  and  twenty-eight  pearls  with  a 
bracelet  to  match.  Three  diamond  rings  and  a  piece  of  jewelry 
the  shape  of  a  leaf,  covered  with  diamonds,  rubies  and  pearls. 
It  was  an  ornament  to  be  worn  by  a  lady  in  her  hair.  When 
they  had  removed  the  cap  out  of  the  caddy,  underneath  was  a 
gentleman's  large  riding  glove.  When  they  removed  the  glove 
they  discovered  three  hundred  English  gold  sovereigns,  coined 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  93 

in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Lon  was  so  excited  he  went  to 
the  window  and  called  to  us  to  leave  off  croquet  playing  and 
come  up  stairs  as  quick  as  possible.  When  we  reached  the 
room  he  had  the  jewelry  and  money  displayed  on  the  table.  He 
said,  "Behold  what  Aladdin's  lamp  has  done  for  me,"  pointing 
to  Puss,  he  said,  "And  there  stands  Aladdin's  lamp." 

When  Mr.  Carrington  saw  the  jewelry  he  said,  "My  God, 
there's  my  grandmother's  jewelry  that  we  thought  had  been 
stolen  and  never  could  discover  it's  whereabouts."  He  said, 
"Where  did  you  get  it?"  Lon  said,  "In  that  old  tea  caddy," 
pointing  to  a  large  old  tea  caddy  that  stood  on  the  table.  He 
said,  "A  spook  came  here  and  showed  herself  to  Puss.  She 
wanted  me  to  climb  up  to  that  top  shelf  there  in  the  closet,  take 
down  the  old  tea  caddy  and  open  it,  and  you  see  our  discovery." 
Mr.  Carrington  said  to  Puss,  "What  kind  of  a  looking  spook  was 
it?"  The  Little  One  described  her.  Mr.  Carrington  said,  "That 
was  my  grandmother.  She  always  looked  like  that,  as  I  re- 
member her.  I  have  gone  to  that  closet  a  number  of  times  to 
get  books,  as  you  see,  the  shelves  are  filled  with  them.  Every 
time  I  went  to  the  closet  I  would  see  that  old  tea  caddy  stand- 
ing up  there  on  the  top  shelf,  thinking  it  was  placed  there  to 
get  it  out  of  the  way,  as  it  belonged  to  grandma.  Well,  Lon,  you 
have  made  the  discovery,  and  it  all  belongs  to  you,  for  what  is 
mine  is  yours.  Xow,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  it?"  Lon 
said,  "I  am  going  to  give  a  sovereign  to  each  one  of  you  pres- 
ent, and  to  Puss  I'm  going  to  give  one  of  the  rings  and  also  that 
jewel  leaf,  that  he  may  wear  in  his  hair  at  the  theater."  We 
all  received  our  sovereign,  thanking  him  kindly.  Then  Lon 
placed  the  rest  that  was  left  into  the  tea  caddy  again. 

Mr.  Carrington  removed  it  to  their  room  down  stairs.  He 
said  he  and  Lon  wiuld  look  at  the  letters  and  papers  at  their 
leisure. 

Three  months  afterward  Mr.  Carrington  wrote  me  a  long 
letter  in  which  he  said,  "Those  letters  found  in  the  tea  caddy 
were  his  grandmother's  and  great  grandmother's  love  letters. 
One  of  the  letters  told  of  the  marriage  of  bis  great  grandmother 
to  Sir  Joshua  Carrington  of  England.  Thev  are  now  deposited 
with  the  jewels  and  money  in  mv  large  safe." 

"Lon  savs  he  wants  Puss  to  come  to  the  ball  sfiven  bv  the 


94  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Hopkins'  students.  He  wants  Puss  to  be  dressed  in  black 
velvet  and  wear  my  great  grandmother's  jewels  at  the  ball.  He 
says  he  will  accept  no  excuse  whatever  and  will  feel  very  angry 
if  you  do  not  come."  \Ye  went ;  attended  the  ball  and  the  Little 
One  wore  the  jewels.  With  his  own  jewels  and  the  ancient 
jewels  he  was  a  blaze  of  diamonds  which  seemed  to  please  Lon 
and  I  was  proud  of  him  that  night.  If  he  had  only  been  a  foot 
and  a  half  taller  he  would  have  looked  like  a  queen  in  royal 
robes. 

I  will  now  tell  you  of  another  condition  that  took  place. 
When  we  were  in  Pittsburg  we  accompanied  a  lady  friend  to  the 
railroad  depot,  who  was  returning  to  Philadelphia  by  the  night 
train.  As  we  were  bidding  her  good  bye  she  took  the  Littlo 
One  in  her  arms  and  kissed  him.  As  she  did  so  the  Little  One 
received  one  of  his  shocks.  He  took  hold  of  her  hands,  saying. 
"Leanora,  on  board  of  this  train  here  there  is  one  of  your  kin 
and  he  is  a  man.  The  voice  says,  if  you  will  go  into  the  third 
car  you  will  discover  him."  I  said  good  bye.  "Come,  Puss,  the 
conductor  is  hollering,  'all  aboard.'  " 

At  Dayton,  Ohio,  we  received  a  letter  from  Leanora,  in  which 
it  said,  "I  went  into  the  third  car  as  dear  Little  Puss  said,  and 
to  my  surprise,  there  I  found  my  brother,  whom  I  had  not  seen 
in  fifteen  years,  lie  returned  from  Australia,  did  not  find  me  in 
Philadelphia,  went  vest  to  Chicago  to  my  brother's,  who  in- 
formed him  that  my  engagement  finished  at  Pittsburg  and  that  I 
had  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  sing  with  the  Galton  troupe  at 
the  Chestnut  Street  Theater.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  glad  1  was 
to  see  him.  He  returns  to  us  a  wealthy  man.  I  send  this  little 
gold  nugget  to  dear  Little  Puss.  Ma}'  God  bless  him  alwavs. 
for  he  belongs  to  the  spirit  world.  Now.  I  Brother  Warren,  if  1 
mav  call  you  such,  you  must  not  hide  thi^  power  that  comes 
to  him  away  from  the  public,  if  you  do  I  think  you  will  regret  it." 

While  we  were  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  my  Little  One  woke  up 
one  night,  saving.  "Papa.  I  saw  a  fire  in  the  kitchen  under  the 
closed  sink.  1  never  was  in  the  kitchen  but  I  know  there  must 
be  a  closed  sink  there  with  a  door  to  it.  Xow,  you  go  and 
wake  up  the  landlord  quick  and  tell  him  there  is  something  on 
fire  in  the  kitchen." 

I  got  into  my  clothes  as  quick  as  possible,  cursing  the  spirit> 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  95 

all  the  time.  I  woke  up  the  landlord ;  we  both  went  down  to 
the  kitchen  and  there  found  a  big  blaze.  It  already  had  burned 
down  the  little  door  of  the  sink  and  part  of  the  floor  was  on 
fire.  We  threw  about  twelve  pails  of  water  on  it  and  put  the 
fire  out.  He  said  that  drunken  curse  must  have  thrown  some- 
thing into  that  closet  that  was  combustible.  It  seems  it  was 
the  habit  of  the  cook  to  get  drunk  sometimes. 

We  went  from  Dayton  to  Cincinnati.  While  the  company 
was  playing  there,  during  the  performance  one  evening  a  man 
shot  at  my  Little  One  on  the  stage.  The  bullet  missed  its 
mark.  The  man  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  station  house. 
There  he  declared  my  Little  One  was  his  wife ;  that  she  had  de- 
serted him  and  his  two  children.  They  discovered  the  man  was 
partially  insane.  His  relatives  came  after  him  and  placed  him 
in  a  lunatic  asylum. 

While  the  company  was  playing  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  a 
woman  in  the  audience  shot  at  my  Little  One  on  the  stage.  She 
was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  station  house.  After  the  per- 
formance was  over  I  accompanied  my  Little  One  to  the  station 
house,  as  he  said  he  felt  there  was  something  wrong. 

He  had  an  interview  with  the  woman,  when  he  discovered 
the  poor  woman  had  been  misled  by  a  vile  character  who  had 
represented  to  this  woman  that  her  husband  had  been  spending 
money  and  making  presents  to  the  Dashing  Blanchard.  My 
Little  One  had  never  met  the  man  in  his  life. 

While  we  were  there  the  husband  arrived  from  the  rail- 
road depot.  After  the  catastrophe  took  place,  of  which  there 
was  no  blood  spilled,  the  woman's  ball  went  through  one  of 
the  side  wings,  she  being  a  bad  markswoman,  and  had  never 
fired  a  pistol  before  in  her  life,  they  telegraphed  to  Baltimore 
f<>r  her  husband. 

He  came  on  feeling  dreadfully  to  find  his  wife  there.  When 
I  saw  who  the  man  was  I  became  sorry  for  him,  as  we  were  well 
acquainted — he  being  a  popular  man  and  well  known  to  the 
public.  While  his  wife  was  crying  she  told  him  the  whole  story 
— how  this  woman  had  written  letters  to  her  and  finally  came 
to  see  her  in  person  and  told  her  dreadful  things  about  him 
and  the  Dashing  Blanchard.  She  said.  "I  became  so  enraged 


96          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

that  I  went  to  the  theater  tonight  to  kill  her.  I  first  went  to 
the  stage  door,  but  they  would  not  admit  me  to  see  her.  The 
old  man  said  they  did  not  permit  strangers  behind  the  scenes 
wrhile  the  performance  was  going  on.  I  told  him  I  was  a  par- 
ticular friend  of  hers.  He  said  he  could  not  help  that ;  that  I 
would  have  to  wait  until  the  performance  was  over,  then  he 
would  call  her  father  to  see  what  I  wanted,  as  he  could  not  per- 
mit me  to  go  to  her  dressing  room,  as  her  father  allowed  no 
one  to  see  her  without  his  permission.  I  knew  that  wouldn't 
do.  I  went  and  purchased  a  ticket,  for  my  brain  was  on  fire.  I 
was  mad  with  jealousy.  When  she  came  upon  the  stage  I  fired 
at  her  before  anyone  could  stop  me,  and  Oh,  thank  God  now  I 
did  not  hit  her.  It  would  have  made  me  a  murderer." 

Her  husband  said,  "Describe  the  woman  to  me  that  called 
to  see  you  today."  His  wife  described  her,  when  he  said,  "Good 
God,  that's  a  woman  that's  been  bothering  me  for  the  last  three 
months.  She's  been  sending  letters  to  me  and  would  also  meet 
me  in  the  street.  She  is  a  woman  that  I  met  in  a  house  of  ill- 
fame.  She  calls  herself  Molly  Baxter.  She  came  here  to  ^rash- 
ington  with  an  army  officer  and  claimed  to  be  his  wife.  He 
left  her  here  and  she  became  one  of  the  inmates  of  that  house 
of  prostitution  where  I  met  her." 

The  Little  One  took  hold  of  the  lady's  hands,  saying,  "I  am 
sorry  for  you,  lady.  That  vile  creature  slandered  your  husband 
and  misinformed  you  as  toward  me.  I  never  saw  your  husband 
nor  you  before  in  my  life.  I  cannot  prosecute  you  but  feel 
deeply  sorry  for  the  affliction  brought  upon  you  by  that  wicked 
woman.  I  can  see  through  it  all  now,  lady.  That  woman 
thought  she  would  lead  you  on  to  do  something  desperate : 
that  would  cause  you  to  be  placed  in  prison — she  thinking  then 
she  would  get  your  husband  for  a  companion.  There  are  so 
man}'  unfortunate  women  of  the  same  stripe.  I  feel  so  badly  for 
you,  lady,  that  words  cannot  convey  to  you  my  feeling." 

He  went  to  the  chief  of  police  and  said.  "I  cannot  prosecute 
that  lady,  she  has  been  misled  by  a  vile  woman  and  if  you 
want  any  bail,  my  papa  will  go  her  bail."  The  chief  of  police 
said.  "I  will  take  your  father's  word  for  bail :  but  that  is  an  un- 
usual thing  to  accept  anyone  as  bail  that  is  not  a  resident  of 
the  citv.  and  we  will  see  what  will  come  of  it  in  the  morning." 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  97 

The  lady  was  released  and  went  home  with  her  husband. 
Nothing  came  of  the  affair. 

Her  husband  and  I  arranged  that  Puss  and  I  made  them 
a  visit  the  next  July  and  remained  a  month  with  them.  We  had 
a  happy  time.  Puss  and  the  lady  became  great  friends.  During 
the  month  of  August  they  both  came  to  our  cottage  at  Atlantic 
City. 

At  another  time  while  we  were  in  Cincinnati,  a  man  fell  in 
love  with  my  Little  One,  annoying  him  by  sending  him  notes.  I 
found  out  where  the  man's  place  of  business  was.  I  called  upon 
him  and  told  him  in  very  plain  words  that  if  he  did  not  stop 
sending  notes  to  my  Little  One  and  quit  annoying  him  in  any 
way  I  would  break  him  in  two.  I  said,  "Mark  now,  what  I  say, 
for  I  mean  it." 

He  said,  "Who  is  your  Little  One?"  I  said,  "Sir,  it  is  the 
Dashing  Blanchard,  and  you  will  find  that  out,  sir,  if  you  do 
not  stop  annoying  her  with  your  notes." 

One  clay  at  the  hotel  we  were  sitting  at  the  breakfast  table, 
which  was  a  rare  thing  for  us  to  do,  as  in  general  we  had  our 
breakfast  in  our  apartments,  the  landlord  and  landlady  sat  down 
at  the  same  table  with  us.  During  our  conversation  the  land- 
lord said  to  me,  "General,  some  gentlemen  and  myself  are  going 
over  to  Covington  to  see  a  target  company  practice,  don't  you 
want  to  accompany  us?"  I  said,  "If  my  Little  One  is  willing 
that  I  should  go  for  awhile."  He  consented,  and  I  went,  saying 
I  would  not  stay  any  longer  than  three  hours  :  but  the  men  were 
quite  jovial  and  I  remained  away  four  hours. 

While  I  was  gone  that  man  that  annoyed  my  Little  (  me 
with  notes  had  made  the  discovery  in  sonic  wav  that  I  had  gone 
to  Covington  to  be  present  at  the  shooting  by  the  target  com- 
pany. In  about  an  hour  after  we  left  the  h»tel  that  man  en- 
tered our  apartments  without  knocking.  The  Little  One  sprang 
to  his  feet — •  as  he  was  Iving  on  a  couch  at  the  time  when  the 
man  entered  the  room.  The  Little  <  >ne  said.  "\\  1m  are  you  am! 
what  do  vou  want?  I  low  dare  you  enter  this  r<  n  »m  without 
knocking  or  sending  up  your  card.  \\hat  do  you  want  IK- re. 
anyhow?  Leave  this  room  or  1  will  alarm  the  guests  in  the 
hotel  and  they  will  put  you  out." 

The  man   shut   the  door  and  stood   with   his  back   to  it.  sav- 


98          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

ing,  "I  came  for  you.  I  want  you  to  quit  this  theatrical  life 
and  come  and  live  with  me.  This  is  no  life  for  you.  When  you 
live  with  me  you  will  be  happy  and  become  a  Christian.  There 
is  no  actor  or  actress  on  the  stage  that  is  a  Christian.  Make  up 
your  mind  and  come  with  me.  I  know  you  are  a  girl  living 
in  boy's  clothes.  You  will  come  with  me,  or  I  will  kill  you." 

The  Little  One  said  he  took  a  pistol  out  of  his  hip  pocket 
and  aimed  it  at  him,  ready  to  fire.  The  Little  One  said,  "All 
right,  I  will  go  with  you  ;  \vait  until  I  pack  up  a  few  things." 
He  went  to  his  trunk,  found  his  dagger  in  the  tray,  wheeled 
around  on  the  man,  saying,  "Now,  I  will  not  go."  The  man 
attempted  to  fire  the  pistol.  Before  he  could  do  so  my  Little 
One  stabbed  him  in  the  arm  with  the  dagger.  He  staggered 
up  against  the  door,  the  Little  One  kicking  the  pistol  out  of  his 
hand,  then  drew  the  dagger  out  of  his  arm.  The  man  seemed 
to  collect  his  senses  then,  left  the  room  and  bolted  down  stairs 
through  the  ladies'  entrance.  He  went  to  a  drug  store  to  have 
his  arm  dressed. 

The  Little  One  locked  the  door  and  remained  in  the  room 
until  I  came  back,  when  he  told  me  the  whole  affair.  I  went 
and  got  out  a  warrant  for  the  man's  arrest.  They  could  not 
find  him  at  his  place  of  business,  neither  at  his  home.  I  learned 
afterwards  that  he  had  hired  a  livery  man  to  take  him  to  a 
point  on  the  Ohio  river,  where  he  took  a  steamboat  and  reached 
Xew  Orleans.  I  heard  afterwards  by  a  friend  in  Cincinnatti  that 
he  sent  for  his  family  to  join  him  in  Xew  Orleans.  After  he 
had  been  in  Xew  Orleans  about  six  months  he  fell  in  love  with 
a  lady  that  sang  in  a  church  or  became  smitten  on  her,  perhaps 
you  would  call  it.  One  evening  while  he  was  escorting  the 
young  lady  home  from  church  he  was  shot  in  the  calf  of  the 
leg  by  some  unknown  person,  blood  poison  set  in,  from  which  he 
died.  I  have  met  him  in  spirit  life  and  he  tells  me  he  has 
made  the  discovery  here  that  he  was  related  to  my  Little  One 
through  his  grandmother,  who  was  a  Hulburtl  of  Scotland. 
Her  name  was  Miss  Xettie  Hulburd.  He  said  when  he  lived 
in  a  physical  body  he  was  not  evenly  balanced.  He  said  he 
had  a  weakness  of  falling  in  love,  as  he  called  it,  with  people 
that  wore  petticoats. 

Xow,   I   must  tell  yon   of  another  thing  that  took  place   in 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  99 

my  Little  One's  life.  On  our  way  back  from  Ohio  the  company 
played  in  Pittsburg.  A  woman  in  the  hotel  that  Mr.  Clifford 
and  myself  became  acquainted  with,  became  severely  smitten 
with  me,  so  much  so  that  she  wanted  me  to  desert  my  Little 
One  and  go  with  her  to  France.  There  is  where  she  said  she 
first  saw  me  while  I  was  in  Paris.  She  said  one  evening  I  en- 
tered the  Mason  de  Marballe  in  company  with  two  other  young 
gentlemen.  She  said  when  she  was  living  in  Paris  she  played 
at  the  Comedia  Francois.  I  told  her  such  a  thing  could  not  be 
possible  for  me  to  leave  my  Little  One. 

On  the  last  night  of  the  company's  engagement,  my  Little 
One  had  a  beautiful  boquet  of  flowers  sent  to  his  dressing- 
room.  One  of  the  ushers  brought  it  in  person.  When  he 
reached  the  green  room  he  smelled  the  rlowers  and  in  a  little 
while  became  very  sick.  lie  handed  me  the  rlowers  and  as  I 
passed  through  the  green  room  I  placed  them  on  the  Little  One's 
trunk  in  his  dressing  room,  shutting  the  door  after  me.  as  the 
Little  One  was  on  the  stage  at  that  time. 

When  1  entered  the  green  room  again  one  of  the  ladies  of 
the  company  was  holding  the  usher's  head,  lie  had  something 
like  a  convulsion.  She  said  to  me,  "We  have  just  sent  the  prop- 
erty boy  for  a  doctor." 

In  about  ten  minutes  the  property  boy  returned,  bringing 
a  doctor  with  him.  who  had  rooms  across  the  street  from  the 
theatre.  Me  looked  at  the  young  man  and  pronounced  it  as  a 
bad  case  of  poisoning.  In  some  manner  he  had  received  the 
poison  through  his  nostrils.  lie  said  to  me,  "You  see."  pulling 
one  of  his  nostrils  open.  "It  is  all  blistered  on  the  inside.  The 
poison  must  have  been  in  powder  form."  1  said.  "Good  (i«>d! 
could  it  be  possible  that  he  inhaled  it  from  those  flowers  that 
he  carried  in  to  the  Little  One?"  The  doctor  said.  "What  flow- 
ers, and  where  are  ihev?"  I  produced  the  bouquet  from  the 
Little  One's  dressing  room,  holding  it  off  at  arm's  length,  which 
I  did  not  do  when  I  received  the  bom  [net  from  the  usher,  but 
fortunately  tor  me  1  did  not  smell  of  the  flowers,  not  bein^  so 
fond  of  them  as  the  Little  One  was.  }u>{  think  what  might 
have  been  the  fate  of  mv  Little  One  had  he  received  the  flowers 
from  the  hands  of  the  usher.  It  just  seemed  as  if  mv  heart  stood 
still  for  a  few  minutes. 


100         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

The  doctor  wrapped  the  flowers  up  in  two  papers,  saying 
he  would  analyze  them  at  his  office.  The  usher  was  carried  to 
his  office,  where  the  physician  could  attend  to  him.  He  died 
in  the  morning.  The  physician  said  he  did  all  he  possibly  could 
for  him,  that  human  skill  could  do. 

The  doctor  discovered  that  the  flowers  had  been  sprinkled 
over  with  arsenic  in  powdered  form.  When  that  woman  heard 
of  the  death  of  the  usher  and  it  was  not  my  Little  One  she  had 
killed,  she  lit  out  and  went  somewhere  \vhere  we  could  not  dis- 
cover her.  It  seemed  as  if  my  Little  One's  time  had  not  come, 
and  he  held  a  charmed  life. 

Oh,  there  is  so  much  in  his  life  to  tell  it  would  take  at  least 
four  large  volumes  to  continue  the  matter  for  the  reading  pub- 
lic. "We  will  continue  at  another  time. 

Monday,   September  22,    1902. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  I  see  you  have  an  east 
wind  this  morning.  That  is  a  good  cause  for  health.  An  east 
wind  dries  up  putrified  matted  and  makes  the  surrounding  at- 
mosphere healthy. 

I  wish  to  relate,  or  I  should  say,  rather,  describe,  a  peculiar 
circumstance  that  occurred  at  the  house  where  we  boarded  in 
Philadelphia.  The  lady's  name  was  Madam  Dorio.  While  we 
were  boarding  there  I  was  called  to  Xew  York  to  transact  some 
business  belonging  to  my  grandfather.  While  I  was  in  New 
York  I  received  a  telegram  to  come  home  right  away;  my  Little 
One  had  got  into  some  trouble.  I  arrived  on  the  evening  train, 
about  six  o'clock,  at  our  home  in  Philadelphia.  There  was  a 
man  and  his  wife  and  a  little  girl  who  came  to  board  at  Madam 
Dorio's.  The  man's  name  was  Edward  Percival.  He  was  in 
the  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  business.  The  woman  claimed  to 
be  a  medium,  so  she  told  some  of  the  boarders.  I  did  not  per- 
mit my  Little  One  to  hold  any  conversation  with  her.  It  was 
discovered  that  she  was  in  the  habit  of  drinking  whiskey  and 
gin,  and  sometimes  got  pretty  well  under  the  influence  of  those 
ardent  spirits.  I  presume  when  she  could  not  call  the  spirits 
from  the  spirit  side  of  life  she  manufactured  some  for  the  oc- 
casion. 

One  day  she  was  dealing  with  the  spirits  quite  strongly  and 
had  pawned  a  brooch  to  raise  the  money  to  provide  the  spirits 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  101 

for  that  occasion,  as  her  husband  would  not  allow  her  to  have 
any  money,  knowing  her  weakness  in  the  line  of  spirits,  and 
sometimes  they  materialized  too  strong,  to  the  disgust  of  the 
husband. 

On  the  day  that  she  pawned  the  brooch  her  husband  came 
home  and  found  her  quite  intoxicated.  He  tried  to  talk  with 
her,  but  found  her  reasoning  qualities  had  vanished.  He  waited 
until  morning  to  explain  and  adjust  matters  to  his  own  satis- 
faction. He  discovered  she  did  not  wear  her  brooch  as  usual 
that  morning.  He  said,  "Where  is  my  mother's  brooch  that  I 
presented  you  with  on  our  wedding  day?"  It  was  a  beautiful 
brooch,  for  I  noticed  it  several  times  when  the  lady  wore  it  at 
the  dining  table.  He  said  when  he  asked  her  where  it  was,  she 
hesitated  for  some  time  and  did  not  speak.  He  demanded  an 
answer  to  his  question.  She  stammered  and  said,  "I — I  did  not 
like  to  tell  you.  That  little  Warren  that  lives  down  stairs  with 
his  father  came  up  yesterday  to  our  rooms  and  stole  it." 

The  man  said,  "That  made  me  angry  to  think  your  boy 
would  do  such  a  thing."  He  said  he  asked  her  again,  "Are  you 
sure  he  stole  my  mother's  brooch?"  She  said,  "Yes,  I  saw  him 
steal  it  and  run  down  stairs. .  That's  what  affected  me  so  yes- 
terday that  I  had  to  drink  some  liquor  to  steady  my  nerves." 

The  man  went  and  swore  out  a  warrant  and  had  my  Little 
( )ne  arrested,  for  the  brooch  was  a  valuable  one.  It  had  a  large 
diamond  in  the  centre,  surrounded  by  rubies  and  was  a  present 
to  Mr.  Percival's  mother  from  her  grandfather  on  her  wedding 
day.  After  my  Little  ( )ne  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  sta- 
tion house,  Thomas  Scott,  a  prominent  railroad  man.  called  at 
Madam  Dorio's  to  see  me  on  some  business.  Madam  Dorio  was 
dressed  to  go  to  the  station  house  and  met  Mr.  Scott  in  the  hall. 
She  told  him  what  had  happened  to  my  Little  One. 

lie  said  he  would  go  right  with  her  and  bail  my  Little  One 
out  so  that  he  could  plav  at  the  theatre  that  night.  ( )n  his  way 
to  the  station  house  he  telegraphed  me  to  come  right  on.  which 
I  did.  When  I  arrived  at  our  apartments  I  found  the  Little  <  hie 
lying  on  a  lounge,  crying,  and  in  a  dreadful  nervous  condition. 
Mr.  Scott  and  Madam  Dorio  were  with  him. 

I  said,  "Pet,  what  is  the  matter?  What  has  happened?"  He 
was  so  nervous  and  so  excited  he  could  not  tell  me.  Then 


102         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Madam  Doric  explained  all.  She  said,  "This  morning  I  notified 
those  people  to  leave  the  house."  I  took  the  Little  One  up  and 
placed  him  on  my  lap.  After  awhile  he  commenced  to  quiet 
down,  when  he  said,  "Papa,  I  never  spoke  to  those  people  in 
my  life."  Madam  Dorio  spoke  up  and  said,  "Don't  worry  so, 
pet ;  that  unfortunate  woman  has  done  something  with  that 
brooch.  Xo  doubt  she  has  sold  it  to  get  money  to  buy  liquor 
with.  She  accused  you  of  stealing  it  because  you're  little,  not 
daring  to  accuse  any  of  the  grown  people  with  the  theft."  Mr. 
Scott  said,  "'Warren,  you  must  make  that  man  sweat  for  this." 
1  quieted  clown  the  Little  One  and  he  went  to  sleep.  He  played 
that  night  at  the  theatre.  During  the  performance  I  noticed  he 
was  quite  nervous. 

Mr.  Percival  said  to  me  that  about  one  o'clock  next  mor- 
ning his  wife  got  out  of  bed  and  went  to  the  bath  room.  He 
thought  he  would  get  up  and  look  in  her  pockets  to  see  if  she 
had  any  money.  In  one  of  her  pockets  he  found  her  purse.  He 
lit  the  gas,  opened  her  purse  and  held  it  under  the  gaslight.  He 
discovered  there  was  four  dollars  there  and  a  little  change. 
When  he  had  taken  out  the  money  he  saw  there  was  a  piece  of 
paper  at  the  bottom  of  the  purse.  .He  thought  he  would  look  at 
it  to  see  what  it  was,  and  to  his  astonishment  he  discovered  it 
was  a  pawn  ticket  for  six  dollars.  She  had  pawned  the  brooch 
and  received  six  dollars  for  it. 

When  his  wife  returned  from  the  bath  room  he  knew  by 
her  manner  she  had  been  drinking.  He  held  the  pawn  ticket  in 
front  of  her,  saying,  "Look  at  this,  you  wretched  woman.  You 
have  pawned  my  mother's  brooch  and  got  six  dollars  on  it.  You 
said  you  saw  Mr.  Warren's  boy  steal  the  brooch.  Have  you 
stopped  to  think  for  one  moment  what  trouble  you  have  got  me 
into?  I  had  little  Puss  arrested  for  theft,  and  now  they  can 
prosecute  me." 

lie  came  to  me  in  the  morning  to  beg  my  Little  One's  par- 
don for  the  wrong  he  had  done  him  and  also  to  beg  my  pardon, 
-ay ing.  "You  see  what  a  drunken  woman  can  do."  He  handed 
me  the  pawn  ticket  to  look  at.  J  put  it  in  my  vest  pocket,  say- 
ing, "Mr.  Percival,  T  will  now  prosecute  you  for  the  disgrace 
yi  >u  brought  on  my  Little  One.  This  pawn  ticket  I  shall  produce 
in  court  as  evidence  showing  that  your  wife  pawned  the  brooch. 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  103 

she  accusing  my  Little  One  of  stealing  it.  You  did  not  look 
into  the  matter  properly,  neither  did  you  consult  my  Little  One 
to  see  whether  he  would  admit  the  theft  or  deny  it,  but  you 
went  right  off  in  a  rage  and  swore  out  a  warrant  and  had  my 
Little  One  arrested.  Now  I  will  prosecute  you  for  false  im- 
prisonment." 

Mr.  Percival  broke  down  and  commenced  to  cry,  saying, 
"Oh,  Mr.  Warren,  is  there  no  way  we  can  settle  it  without  go- 
ing to  court?  It  will  disgrace  my  wife  and  her  family,  i  did 
not  know  when  I  married  her  that  she  drank  liquor."  I  said, 
''Mr.  Percival,  you  did  not  stop  to  think  what  disgrace  you 
would  bring  upon  my  Little  One  and  me.  Now  you  shall  pay 
for  it.  You  will  pay  over  to  my  Little  One  five  hundred  dollars, 
or  we  will  have  a  law-suit."  He  went  to  my  desk,  took  out  his 
check  book,  filled  out  a  check  for  five  hundred  dollars  and 
handed  it  to  me,  saying,  "I  am  sorry — I  was  too  hasty,  as  you 
have  shown  me.  The  brooch  belonged  to  my  mother  and  I  prize 
it  very  highly.  I  will  go  and  take  it  out  of  pawn,  and  that  wo- 
man shall  never  see  it  again."  I  handed  him  the  pawn  ticket, 
when  he  said,  "I  would  leave  her  now,  only  for  our  little  girl." 
I  said,  "You  must  do  as  you  think  best,"  and  bade  him  good 
morning. 

Madam  Doric  was  so  angry  that  she  told  him  he  must  leave 
the  house  that  day.  They  got  a  room  at  a  Market  street  hotel. 
The  unfortunate  woman  kept  on  drinking  until  finally  one  night 
she  was  arrested  in  the  street  drunk,  and  taken  to  the  station 
house.  Mr.  Percival  forbade  her  coming  to  his  apartments.  She 
went  home  to  her  father's  family.  He  put  the  little  girl  into  a 
convent  school  and  made  short  work  of  it  by  getting  a  divorce. 
The  unfortunate  woman  committed  suicide.  He  never  married 
again.  By  degrees  he,  my  Little  One  and  myself  became  great 
friends.  He  returned  to  Madam  Dorio's  to  board  and  I  think 
after  a  time  he  became  quite  contented  with  bis  life.  His  friend- 
ship for  my  Little  One  became  very  strong.  When  he  passed 
out  of  the  body  and  bis  will  was  read,  they  made  the  discovery 
that  he  had  left  my  Little  One  ten  thousand  dollars  in  govern- 
ment bonds,  which  were  turned  over  to  us.  Mr.  Percival  wrote 
an  article,  had  it  published  in  the  Philadelphia  Leger.  exhon- 
erating  mv  Little  One  from  all  blame  in  the  theft  of  the  brooch. 


104         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  will  now  describe  another  peculiar  thing  that  took  place 
in  my  Little  One's  life. 

We  were  sitting  in  a  ferry  boat  that  crossed  the  river  to 
Camden,  New  Jersey.  A  lady  came  up  to  us  with  a  baby  in 
her  arms.  It  was  dressed  beautifully  and  I  should  judge,  was 
six  or  seven  months  old.  She  said  to  my  Little  One,  "Boy,  will 
you  please  hold  this  baby  for  just  about  two  minutes  until  I 
run  back  to  the  office  ?  The  man  has  not  given  me  the  right 
change."  My  Little  One  said,  "All  right,  madam/'  and  received 
the  child.  He  hugged  it  up  to  his  breast  and  smiled,  saying, 
"Papa,  isn't  it  beautiful?"  The  boat  started  and  the  woman 
did  not  return.  My  Little  One  said,  "She  has  missed  the  boat, 
and  will  come  over  on  the  next  one.  Just  think  what  that  poor 
woman's  feelings  must  be,  separated  so  long  from  her  baby." 
We  waited  at  the  ferry  house  on  the  Camden  side  until  four 
different  boats  came  in,  but  no  woman  came  for  her  baby. 

We  went  to  the  home  where  we  were  invited  to  attend  a 
lunch  given  in  honor  of  Walt  Whitman.  When  we  arrived  there 
with  Puss  carrying  the  baby  in  his  arms,  for  I  did  not  dare  to 
handle  it,  as  I  never  held  a  baby  in  my  arms  in  my  life,  but 
little  Puss,  and  he,  fortunately,  was  strong  enough  to  sit  up  and 
make  his  wants  known.  His  commands  had  to  be  attended  to 
right  away,  and  if  they  were  not,  I  was  allowed  to  know  the 
reason  why.  Oh,  he  was  mild  and  gentle,  but  very  emphatic. 

When  he  had  described  to  the  lady  of  the  house  all  about 
the  baby  and  the  woman  that  gave  it  to  him  to  hold,  she  said 
he  could  leave  it  there  until  its  mother  called  for  it;  that  we 
could  advertise  in  the  Ledger  where  the  baby  was.  The  Little 
( )ne  said,  "Don't  say  anything  about  it.  Papa,  and  perhaps  we 
can  keep  the  baby."  lie  was  very  fond  of  children.  I  said. 
"Just  now.  as  \vc  are  situated,  we  could  not  take  care  of  a  baby, 
and  we'll  have  to  give  the  woman  her  baby  back."  I  saw  the 
mother  nature  beaming  out  of  his  eyes,  and  he  reluctantly  gave 
the  baby  up.  I  inserted  an  advertisement  in  the  paper,  but  the 
woman  never  called  for  her  baby  and  the  fam.il v  adopted  it. 
They  called  it  Ilcnry  .Miller,  their  family  name  being  Miller. 

<  )ne  day  we  called  on  \\  alt  \Yhitnnm.  the  poet,  to  make  him 
a  visit  oi  two  days,  as  lie  requested.  They  were  very  pleasant 
days,  lie  telling  us  much  of  his  past  life. 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN         105 

The  second  evening  a  few  friends  called  to  make  him  a  visit. 
While  we  were  sitting  in  his  little  front  parlor,  a  lady  who  bore 
the  name  of  Mrs.  Singleton  came  in.  She  turned  out  to  be  a 
medium.  This  was  before  the  Civil  \Yar.  She  said,  "Mr.  War- 
ren,  I  see  your  boy  surrounded  by  soldiers,  but  they  do  not  all 
wear  the  same  colored  uniform.  I  see  a  river  divide  them.  On 
one  side  of  the  river  the  soldiers  wear  a  grey  uniform.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  river  they  wear  a  blue  uniform,  and  yet  your 
boy  seems  to  be  just  as  much  at  home  with  either  one  of  those 
armies.  I  see  him  crossing  and  recrossing  that  river,  mingling 
freely  among  the  soldiers  and  singing  for  them.  Mr.  Warren, 
that  means  something.  I  am  afraid  it  means  war.  But  why 
your  boy  should  mingle  so  freely  with  the  soldiers  on  both  sides 
of  the  river  I  cannot  tell,  because  they  wear  different  uniforms, 
and  do  not  seem  to  be  friendly  to  each  other.  I  am  afraid  our 
country  is  going  to  get  into  trouble."  This  was  in  '57.  After 
'61  I  understood  it  thoroughly.  What  she  saw  was  my  boy  pass- 
ing to  and  fro  between  the  union  and  rebel  lines. 

Brother  Hulburd,  there  is  so  much  to  tell  that  took  place 
during  his  life  while  he  lived  with  me  that  I  cannot  give  ex- 
pression to  here.  I  want  to  leave  some  space  in  the  book  for 
others. 

Why  are  we  giving  his  life  through  his  own  mediumship? 
I  know  he  would  not  give  it  in  any  other  way.  He  is  not  capa- 
ble of  doing  so.  as  he  lacks  education  and  never  had  a  desire 
that  the  world  should  know  his  past  life,  but  we,  as  spirits,  have 
that  desire.  We  want  the  reading  public  to  know  something  of 
a  natural  born  medium  and  his  life.  What  they  pass  through 
the  reading  public  would  hardly  believe.  Their  ups  and  downs 
are  many,  and  I  do  not  wonder  that  they  become  so  tired  of  their 
existence  in  a  physical  bod}'. 

You  were  chosen  for  this  work.  You  wield  the  pencil  and 
we  give  yon  the  memories  of  his  past  life.  (  Mi.  it  was  a  sad  one 
betore  I  found  him  or  her,  as  you  'choose  to  call  it.  The  female 
part  was  always  the  most  prominent  part  of  his  nature.  I  really 
should  say  her  nature,  for  she  gave  to  me  that  love  that  is  so 
seldom  found  in  human  nature.  It  was  the  love  that  had  all 
the  ferocity  in  it  of  a  tiger  and  the  gentleness  of  a  lamb.  She 
made  me  one  of  the  happiest  men  living,  as  I  was  selected  lor 


106        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

her  guardian  by  the  spirit  world.  She  would  play  around  you 
like  a  little  kitten  and  give  out  all  the  love  of  her  heart  to  you. 
Selfishness  was  unknown  in  her  makeup,  but  when  aroused  to 
anger  she  became  a  demon,  and  then  she  was  beautiful  to  be- 
hold. She  would  cut  or  strike  the  party  that  made  her  angry 
with  anything  that  she  could  get  hold  of.  I  have  seen  her  hiss 
out  like  a  snake  when  I  would  hold  her  back  from  attacking 
any  one.  She  was  always  loved  by  the  managers  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  company  when  they  realized  her  condition  and  un- 
derstood her  thoroughly.  She  never  cared  any  more  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States  than  she  did  a  laborer  on  the 
street.  If  they  were  good  and  behaved  themselves  they  were 
just  as  dear  to  her  as  the  greatest  of  her  friends.  She  never 
seemed  to  care  when  people  came  into  her  life  and  went  out  of 
it.  It  was  all  the  same  to  her.  There  were  some  of  her  friends 
that  she  was  more  attached  to  than  others,  but  when  the  time 
came  for  them  to  part,  it  never  seemed  to  affect  her  as  it  would 
some  people  in  life.  She  would  bid  them  good-by  as  calmly 
and  quietly  as  if  they  had  only  met  for  the  first  time.  I  think 
her  nature  was  but  little  understood  by  her  friends,  and  she  was 
looked  upon  as  a  peculiar  creature.  To  sum  it  all  up,  my  Little 
One  was  a  freak  in  nature. 

Now.  the  title  of  the  book  shall  be,  "The  Life  of  Little 
Justin  Hulburd,  Medium,  Actor  and  Poet."  That  is  what  the 
public  shall  read  on  the  title  page  of  the  work. 

I  did  not  always  claim  to  be  a  moral  man,  but  I  claimed  to 
be  an  honest  man,  and  such  I  proved  myself  to  be  to  her.  I 
was  the  father  of  forty-eight  children  by  different  women.  I 
was  kind  to  my  Little  One  and  gave  her  all  the  love  I  had  while 
living  in  a  physical  body. 

My  affinity  in  spirit  life  bore  the  name  of  Julia  Hawthorne, 
the  blind  singer.  \Yhile  living  in  a  physical  body  my  Little  One 
knew  her  well  and  they  often  sang  together.  I  have  realized 
since  coming  here  to  spirit  life  that  those  whom  you  live  with 
in  the  physical  body  are  not  always  spirit  mates.  \Ye  mate 
here  together,  living  happy  in  each  other's  love,  with  no  thought 
of  the  animal  passion  in  our  natures. 

The  woman  that  I  married  and  who  bore  me  children  has 
no  attraction  for  me  here  in  spirit  life.  I  am  glad  my  Little  One 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN        107 

distributed  my  goods  among  her  children.  I  am  glad  he  gave 
my  sword  and  ring  to  the  oldest  boy.  It  was  too  bad  he  lost  his 
life-sized  portrait  in  the  fire,  but  I  know  my  face  and  memory  is 
always  with  him. 

Brother  Hulburd,  when  you  come  to  spirit  life  you  will  see  I 
was  no  small  man  when  I  lived  in  a  physical  body.  She  always 
looked  like  a  little  child  alongside  of  me  and  I  have  not  forgotten 
how  she  liked  to  ride  pig-a-back  and  play  circus. 

Xovv,  I  thank  you  for  taking  clown  my  communication,  and 
I  know  you  will  get  your  reward,  for  such  a  work  as  this  goes 
not  unrewarded. 

Put  me  down  as  "Papa  Warren/'  that  is  always  what  she 
called  me.  I  leave  Julia's  love  and  mine  also  for  her.  She  has 
lived  to  an  old  age  as  the  spirit  world  had  a  work  for  her  to  per- 
form and  she  had  to  finish  this  section  of  it  while  living  in  this 
physical  body.  Be  kind  to  her  for  she  is  growing  feeble.  Her 
task  was  a  hard  one,  but  she  walked  through  it  like  a  general. 
God  bless  her  and  may  the  God  bless  you,  too,  if  there  is  such 
a  principle  in  nature.  I  know  the  angels  will  bless  you  anyhow. 
Good  day. 

Thursday,   October  2,    1902. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  I  am  once  more  in  the 
field.  My  Little  One  when  living  in  the  body  was  naturally  re- 
ligious. Her  ancestors  were  all  Catholics,  and  he  naturally  was 
baptised  in  the  Catholic  Church.  He  believed  in  Jesus  Christ; 
that  he  came  to  earth  as  a  moral  reformer ;  that  he  gave  to  the 
world  a  high  civilization  ;  that  he  came  upon  earth  through  the 
Christian  religion.  He  believed  in  no  miraculous  conception  at 
all.  He  always  said  to  me,  "All  things  come  through  the  natural 
process  of  laws  in  nature.  I  do  not  believe.  Papa  \Yarren,  there 
ever  was  a  force  took  place  outside  of  nature.  The  overshadow- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all  bosh.  It  is  only  the  conception  of 
a  superstitious  writer.  He  wrote  that  up  knowing  of  the  super- 
stitious condition  of  the  people  fostered  upon  their  credulous 
and  superstitious  minds."  (At  this  point  came  a  loud  rap.) 
"Knowing  that  tliev  would  have  full  confidence  in  anvthing 
that  came  through  priestcraft,  believing  that  God  had  changed 
one  of  the  laws  in  nature  for  their  especial  benefit,  and  also  for 
the  benefit  of  the  male  child  of  Marv.  the  Holv  Ghost  being  the 


108         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

father  and  Joseph  the  husband  of  Mary  was  only  an  outside  is- 
sue, being  an  old  man  and  was  willing  to  submit  to  anything 
that  took  place  as  long  as  Mary's  child  was  represented  as  the 
Son  of  God  or  God  himself  taking  on  a  human  body — a  disgrace 
to  all  human  intellect.  He  did  not  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
his  Savior.  His  belief  was  that  every  individual  had  to  pay  the 
penalty  for  his  own  sins  and  crimes  committed  in  life."  I  wish 
to  relate  an  incident,  or  I  should  say,  a  foolish  part  that  a  man 
played  in  life. 

There  was  a  Mr.  Joseph  Green,  a  leader  of  a  band,  who  be- 
came fascinated  with  my  Little  One.  As  you  must  understand, 
my  Little  One  was  a  natural  born  flirt,  and  used  that  art  or  talent 
as  you  choose  to  call  it.  It  was  as  natural  for  him  to  flirt  on  the 
stage  as  it  was  for  him  to  eat,  and  many  men  fell  under  this 
spell  or  condition.  That  Mr.Joseph  Green  that  I  speak  of  was  one 
of  the  weak-brained  men  in  life.  He  was  a  married  man  and  had 
a  family. 

AYhile  our  company  was  playing  in  Cincinnatti,  he  fell  under 
the  fascination  of  the  Litte  One,  and  followed  us  around  to  sev- 
eral towns.  One  of  my  company  acquainted  me  with  the  fact 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  Puss.  I  went  and  spoke  to  him  in 
a  gentlemanly  way,  saying,  "Mr.  Green,  don't  be  foolish  and  act 
an  unmanly  part ;  go  back  to  your  family  and  let  this  be  a  lesson 
to  you  in  life.  You  have  become  fascinated  with  a  natural  born 
flirt.  I  know  it  has  cost  you  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  flowers 
that  you  have  thrown  to  her  upon  the  stage.  She  cares  no  more 
for  those  flowers  or  for  you  than  she  does  for  any  old  Italian 
organ  grinder  on  the  corner  of  the  street.  Xow  go  back  home 
and  become  a  sensible  husband  and  father,  never  forgetting  a 
part  of  your  life  wherein  you  became  a  weak  man  and  was  fas- 
cinated by  a  stage  flirt.  Do  not  forget,  at  the  same  time,  it  was 
both  unmanly  and  unwise  for  you  to  desert  your  family  and  fol- 
low around  a  person  that  you  even  had  not  become  acquainted 
with  yet. 

He  left  us  in  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  we  heard  nothing  fur- 
ther of  him  until  he  made  his  appearance  at  Atlantic  City,  Xew 
Jersey. 

One  day  lirother  Meade,  Madame  Dorio  and  her  maid,  my- 
self included,  went  out  for  a  carriage  ride.  Puss  had  been  in- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN      i;;  109 

vited  by  a  congressman's  family  to  make  them  a  visit  at  the 
hotel,  and  he  did  so.  While  there  he  remembered  he  had  for- 
gotten a  present  he  had  at  the  cottage  for  the  little  boy  of  the 
family.  He  told  the  lady  he  would  return  to  the  cottage  and  get 
it.  He  would  only  be  gone  a  little  while.  The  little  boy  said  he 
would  go  with  him,  which  he  did.  When  they  had  arrived  at  the 
cottage  Puss  presented  the  little  boy  with  his  present.  They 
were  about  to  leave  the  cottage  when  they  heard  a  knock  on  the 
door.  Puss  thought  that  was  strange  that  the  person  did  not 
ring  the  bell.  He  paid  no  attention  to  the  first  knock,  thinking 
they  would  leave,  whoever  it  was.  The  individual  knocked 
again.  Puss  went  to  the  door  and  locked  it  on  the  inside,  think- 
ing it  was  strange  the  person  did  not  ring  the  bell.  He  thought 
it  was  not  wise  to  open  the  door.  He  thought  he  would  leave 
by  the  back  door  of  the  cottage.  When  he  had  opened  the  back 
door  there  stood  the  man  Green.  He  pushed  the  Little  One  back 
into  the  room,  entered  and  shut  the  door  at  the  same  saying.  "1 
saw  the  rest  of  your  folks  out  riding  in  a  carriage.  I  thought, 
perhaps,  I  would  find  you  home.  I  knocked  twice  at  the  front 
door,  receiving  no  answer,  I  looked  in  the  window,  saw  you  and 
the  little  child  going  toward  the  back  part  of  the  cottage.  I  hur- 
ried around  and  met  you,  as  you  see.  We  are  alone:  that  child 
does  not  count  for  anything.  I  have  abandoned  my  family  to 
follow  you  here.  I  want  you  to  go  with  me  to  England  and  go 
right  now.  I  mean  business,  and  if  you  don't  I'm  going  to  kill 
you."  The  little  child  commenced  to  cry  when  Puss  quieted  him 
by  saying,  "It's  all  a  farce;  it's  only  fun.  baby."  He  turned 
upon  the  man  and  said,  "You  must  be  mad.  llo\v  dare  you  lol- 
low  me  around?"  The  man  said,  "How  dare  I?  You  are  a  mag- 
net and  draw  me  to  you.  I  have  now  become  a  disgraced  man. 
I  have  abandoned  my  family,  forged  my  lather's  name  for  $3000. 
and  I  am  here  waiting  to  see  what  pity  you  have  for  one  who 
loves  you."  My  Little  One  said.  "Foolish  man.  go  away.  I 
want  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  you."  The  man  said.  "You 
don't?  Then,  by  God.  you  will,  for  we  will  die  together."  He 
took  a  pistol  out  of  his  pocket,  placed  the  cold  muzzle  of  it 
against  my  Little  One's  forehead,  pulled  the  trigger,  but  it 
would  not  go  off.  I  think  the  reason  was  the  cap  had  become 
too  wet  from  the  perspiration  of  the  man's  body — it  being  a  hot 


110        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

day  in  August.  When  my  Little  One  discovered  the  pistol  did 
not  go  off  he  kicked  the  man  in  the  stomach  which  laid  him  out 
on  the  floor.  He  and  the  child  fled  from  the  cottage.  He  went 
direct  to  the  hotel,  told  the  family  all  that  had  happened  when 
the  congressman  said,  "Come  quick  and  we  will  return  to  the 
cottage."  They  had  another  man  accompany  them.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  cottage  they  found  the  man  Green  had  gone ;  his 
hat  and  pistol  laid  upon  the  floor. 

When  we  had  returned  from  our  drive  and  the  Little  One 
had  told  me  all  that  transpired  during  our  absence,  I  went  im- 
mediately and  got  a  warrent  out  for  his  arrest.  All  trains  and 
boats  were  watched.  He  was  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  city. 

It  was  discovered  two  months  afterward  that  he  had  a  little 
yacht  lying  off  the  shore  in  which  he  intended  to  carry  my  Little 
One. away  from  Atlantic  City.  I  did  not  hear  of  him  for  two 
years,  when  I  read  a  notice  copied  from  a  San  Francisco  paper 
in  which  it  said  a  Joseph  A.  Green  died  in  San  Francisco,  who 
was  a  leader  of  a  band.  In  spirit  life  he  tells  that  that  was  he. 

There  is  a  beautiful  female  spirit  that  was  once  known  by 
the  name  of  Laura  Keene  when  living  in  a  physical  body.  She 
says  she  was  lessee  of  a  theater  that  bore  her  name  on  Broad- 
way, New  York.  She  tells  me  that  the  Little  One  played  in  a 
Christmas  pantomime  at  her  theater  during  the  holidays.  He 
played  a  particular  part  and  as  she  had  selected  him  for  that 
part  she  dressed  him  up  as  a  gaudy  butterfly.  He  had  beautiful 
wings  on  his  shoulders  and  was  discovered  inside  of  a  rose,  when 
it  had  opened  from  a  bud.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  behold,  she 
said,  "He  was  discovered  sitting  there.  As  the  bud  opened  and 
the  rose  unfolded  its  petals  his  whole  body  looked  like  it  was 
covered  with  diamonds.  As  the  rose  bent  toward  the  stage  he 
sprang  out  and  commenced  to  dance,  flitting  across  the  stage 
like  a  butterfly  when  the  applause  became  tremendous.  At  the 
finish  of  the  dance  he  sprang  into  the  center  of  the  rose  again, 
when  it  closed  up  like  a  bud.  The  applause  becoming  so  great 
he  had  to  repeat  it."  She  said  he  was  a  strange  little  creature, 
who  seemed  to  fascinate  people  that  he  came  in  contact  with. 
Dolly  Davenport,  then  an  actor  in  Xew  York,  at  that  time,  be- 
came so  fascinated  over  the  little  creature  that  he  took  poison 
because  the  Little  (  hie  would  not  live  with  him.  He  was  saved 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  111 

by  the  means  of  a  skillful  physician  whose  name  was  Doctor 
Mott.  Laura  Keene  says  she  never  understood  the  Little  One, 
but  loved  him  dearly.  Many  of  the  company  she  said,  liked  to 
kiss  him  at  rehearsal,  he  had  such  red  cheeks.  She  laughingly 
said,  the  manager  of  the  theater  was  fascinated  by  the  Little 
One,  and  would  present  him  with  beautiful  cut  flowers,  right 
in  the  midst  of  winter,  which  cost  him  considerable  money.  The 
Little  One  would  divide  the  flowers  among  the  company.  She 
said  she  remembered  one  morning  a  beautiful  large  box  filled 
with  candy  was  left  at  the  box  office  for  him.  After  he  had  re- 
ceived it  he  placed  it  on  the  prompters'  table.  I  undid  the 
wrapper  and  opened  it  up  for  him  when  he  said,  "Ladies  and 
gents,  fall  to  and  partake  of  the.  sweeties.  If  you  can't  all  have 
the  pleasure  of  kissing  the  man  that  brought  them,  you  are  just 
as  well  off  as  I  am.  for  I  never  saw  the  man  in  my  life.  Heaven 
knows  what  the  second  edition  will  be,"  which  got  the  company 
to  laughing.  She  said  he  could  not  read  then,  and  she  read  his 
love  letters  that  he  had  received  from  admirers,  for  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  anyone  to  think  it  was  a  boy.  She  has  related  so 
many  things  to  me  about  my  Little  One  that  I  enjoyed  very 
much  listening  to  his  antics  before  I  became  the  possessor  oi 
his  little  physical  body. 

At  one  period  in  his  life  he  had  quite  a  flirtation  with  a 
Christian  minister,  who  came  to  the  theater  disguised  as  a  fire- 
man from  a  neighboring  city.  He  wrote  several  notes,  she  said, 
to  the  Little  One,  then  made  his  appearance  in  person,  dressed 
as  a  fireman.  She  discovered,  she  said,  the  fireman's  language 
was  too  elevated  and  refined  for  one  in  that  line.  She  said.  "You 
are  not  a  fireman,  but  an  educated  man  and  I  do  not  want  you 
coming  here  after  this  Little  One."  He  laughed,  and  said.  "Miss 
Keene,  I  am  not  a  fireman  but  a  minister  of  the  gospel." 

She  said  when  she  lived  in  the  physical  body  she  was  a  re- 
ligious woman  and  that  shocked  her.  She  ordered  him  out  of 
the  theater,  but  he  waited  around — waiting  for  the  Little  ( )ne  to 
come  forth  from  the  stage  door.  lie  followed  the  Little  (  hu- 
until  he  reached  lileecker  street.  He  accosted  the  Little  One. 
saying,  "Come  with  me  and  have  some  ice  cream  and  cake." 

They  went  to  a  restaurant  on  Ilmadway.  where  they  had 
ice  cream  and  cake.  While  sitting  at  the  table,  the  minister  said. 


112 

"Let  us  take  a  sail  down  the  bay  as  far  as  Staten  Island."  The 
Little  One  thought  it  would  be  fine  to  sail  down  the  bay.  The 
minister  purchased  tickets  to  go  on  board  of  a  steamer  that  went 
as  far  as  Sandy  Hook.  \Yhen  they  arrived  at  Sandy  Hook,  the 
minister  said,  "Come,  we  will  go  and  get  dinner  at  a  house  \vhere 
I  am  acquainted/'  \Yhile  dining  at  this  house  the  Little  One 
overheard  some  conversation  in  which  the  people  said,  "The 
steamer  leaves  in  ten  minutes  more." 

He  left  the  house  unnoticed,  while  the  minister  was  con- 
versing with  the  woman  of  the  house.  He  made  tracks  for  the 
steamer,  got  on  board,  after  which  they  hauled  up  the  gang- 
plank. The  steamer  sailed  up  the  bay  for  New  York,  leaving 
the  minister  of  the  gospel  behind  at  Sandy  Hook.  When  the 
steamer  reached  the  dock  at  Xew  York  they  were  commencing 
to  light  the  city  lights.  On  the  passage  up  to  Xew  York,  the 
captain  approached  the  Little  One,  saying,  "Boy.  where  is  that 
man  that  came  down  on  the  steamer  with  you?  Why  is  it  that 
you  return  alone?''  "I  have  to  play  at  the  theater  tonight,  and 
he  didn't  have  time  to  get  back  to  the  boat,"  the  Little  One  said. 
The  captain  laughed  and  said,  "I  feel  there  is  something  wrong 
here.  You  are  not  a  boy,  but  a  girl  dressed  in  boy's  clothes. 
You  say  you  play  at  a  theater."  The  Little  One  said,  "Yes ;  I 
am  playing  at  Laura  Keene's  Theater  now7."  The  captain  said, 
"What  is  your  name  on  the  bill?"  The  Little  One  said,  "They 
call  me  'The  Dashing  Blanchard.'  ':  The  captain  said,  "I  feel 
there  is  something  wrong.  You  will  go  with  me  to  the  pilot 
house  and  remain  there  until  the  boat  lands;  then  I  will  get  a 
carriage  and  take  you  to  Laura  Keene's  Theater,  for  I  am  a  father 
of  children  and  feel  it  my  duty  to  see  you  safe  to  the  theater.  I 
will  ask  for  Laura  Keene  and  find  out  who  you  are."  When  the 
carriage  arrived  at  the  stage  entrance,  the  captain  asked  to  see 
Laura  Keene.  She  received  him  in  the  green  room.  When  he 
entered,  holding  the  Little  One  by  the  hand,  she  wondered  what 
was  the  matter.  He  addressed  her,  saying,  "I  believe  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Miss  Laura  Keene."  She  said,  "That  is 
my  name.  What  may  your  name  be?"  "I  am  Captain  Hulburd. 
of  the  Steamer  Sea  Bird.  I  noticed  on  my  trip  down  the  bay 
this  Little  <  Mie.  who  says  he  is  a  boy — but  I  do  not  believe  it — 
was  on  board  of  my  steamer,  accompanied  by  a  man,  whose  ac- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN         113 

tions  I  did  not  like.  lie  did  not  act  toward  the  Little  One  as  if 
he  was  a  boy,  but  more  like  a  lover  who  had  eloped  with  a  girl 
in  boy's  clothes.  At  Sandy  Hook  when  the  men  were  about  to 
raise  the  gangplank  I  saw  the  Little  One  running  toward  the 
boat,  waving  his  cap.  1  told  the  men  to  hold  fast  until  we 
would  see  what  the  Little  One  wanted.  He  rushed  up  the  gang- 
plank on  to  the  boat,  saying,  'It's  all  right  now.'  1  told  the 
men  to  haul  in,  feeling  that  there  was  something  wrong."  He 
continued,  "Now,  lady,  do  you  know  this  person  and  is  he  one  of 
your  company?"  She  said  he  was  at  present.  She  thanked  him 
for  his  kindness  in  bringing  the  Little  ( )ne  to  the  theater. 

He  said  his  name  was  Captain  Horace  Hulburd.  She  wrote 
him  out  a  pass  for  himself  and  family,  saying,  "If  you  do  not 
live  too  far  away,  you  have  yet  time  to  get  your  family  and  at- 
tend the  performance  when  you  will  see  the  Little  One  in  the 
pantomime."  He  withdrew  from  the  stage  entrance,  went  for 
his  family  and  returned  to  the  theater  in  time  to  see  the  per- 
formance as  the  curtain  went  up. 

He  wrote  her  a  note  next  day,  thanking  her  for  her  kindness, 
in  which  he  said,  "I  cannot  believe  that  is  a  boy,"  and  inviting 
her  and  the  Little  One  to  take  dinner  with  him  on  Sunday,  as 
his  boat  did  not  run  that  day.  They  went  and  were  received 
kindly  by  the  captain  and  his  family,  who  lived  on  Lionel  street, 
near  the  Iknverv. 

During  the  conversation  at  the  table,  thev  spoke  of  the  man 
in  whose  company  the  Little  One  was  seen.  The  captain  said, 
".Miss  Keene,  I  am  going  to  trace  that  man  up.  if  1  pos- 
sibly can.  and  find  out  who  he  is,  and  what  was  his  motive  to 
induce  the  Little  One  to  go  to  Sandv  Hook,  for  it  is  a  bleak- 
looking  place  at  this  time  of  year. 

lie  traced  the  man  and  found  out  that  he  was  not  only  a 
minister  but  a  professor  in  a  theological  college,  whose  name 
was  Charles  Hulburd.  and  thev  were  cousins.  1  lc  was  so  dis- 
guised that  he  did  not  rec< \gnixe  his  cousin  pr>tes>or.  \\hc-n 
lie  discovered  who  the  man  was  he  wrote  him  a  letter  asking 
him  to  come  to  his  home  on  a  Sundav.  when  he  would  be  at 
home,  saying  he  had  some  very  important  information  to  give 
concerning  money  that  had  been  left  the  family  in  Scotland.  That 
was  bait  which  drew  the  professor  to  ;he  captain's  home. 


114         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

When  the  professor  arrived  at  the  captain's  home  he  re- 
ceived a  cordial  greeting  by  the  family.  The  captain  invited  him 
to  a  room  upstairs,  where  he  could  impart  the  valuable  news  to 
him  about  the  money  that  had  been  left  in  Scotland.  When 
they  had  reached  the  room  the  captain  pointed  to  a  chair,  saying 
"Be  seated  cousin."  The  captain  went  to  the  door,  locked  it  and 
put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "That  will 
prevent  anyone  from  entering  during  our  conversation." 

When  the  captain  had  seated  himself  in  an  easy  chair,  he 
said,  "Cousin,  I  believe  you  look  upon  yourself  as  a  good  Chris- 
tian, and  that  you  and  your  family  are  strict  members  of  the 
Christian  church.  Where  did  you  intend  to  take  that  boy  that 
you  had  with  you  on  board  my  boat?  You  both  got  off  at  Sandy 
Hook.  How  comes  it,  cousin,  that  the  boy  returned  alone  to  the 
boat  and  you  did  not  accompany  him?  Xow,  I  fully  believe  that 
boy  is  a  girl,  living  as  a  boy  and  wearing  boy's  clothes.  Xow, 
you  are  a  married  man  with  children.  I  repeat  this  so  that  you 
will  keep  it  in  your  memory.  What  did  you  intend  to  do  with 
that  girl,  and  why  did  she  return  to  the  boat  alone?" 

The  captain  said  first  off  the  professor  became  furious,  and 
said  it  was  none  of  his  God  damn  business  what  he  wanted  with 
that  girl.  "If  this  is  what  you  have  brought  me  here  for,  open 
that  door  and  let  me  out.  I  will  never  enter  your  house  again. 
You  attend  to  your  own  business  and  let  mine  alone." 

The  captain  said.  "Xot  so  fast  my  good  minister  of  the 
Christian  church:  it  is  my  duty  just  now.  as  a  father,  to  attend 
to  some  of  your  affairs.  Xow,  if  you  do  not  come  right  out  and 
tell  me  why  you  were  in  that  disguise  with  that  child  in  your 
company  and  what  you  intended  to  do  with  her.  I  will  expose 
you  to  the  faculty  of  the  college  :  besides  I  will  advertise  you  in 
all  the  public  newspapers,  showing  what  a  black  hearted  scoun- 
drel you  are  and  that  you  are  a  dangerous  man  to  be  admitted 
into  any  family  where  there  are  young  females." 

The  professor  turned  pale,  broke  down  and  commenced  to 
cry.  saying,  "Cousin,  I  am  a  wicked  man,  I  know,  but  I  am  not 
altogether  to  blame  in  this.  While  in  Xew  York  here  I  attended 
Laura  Keene's  Theater.  While  looking  at  the  performance  from 
the  box.  that  little  creature  flirted  with  me:  she  bewitched  me, 
and  I  fell  desperately  in  love  with  her.  She  was  in  my  dreams 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  115 

all  that  night  at  the  hotel.  It  just  seemed  to  me  I  could  not 
wait  for  evening  to  come,  I.  wanted  to  see  her  so  much  again.  I 
purchased  flowers,  presented  them  to  her  from  the  box.  When 
she  received  them  our  eyes  met.  After  that  I  became  a  lost  man. 
My  whole  desire  was  to  possess  that  creature.  I  forgot  I  was  a 
professor  and  the  father  of  a  Christian  family.  Oh,  Cousin 
Horace,  if  she  had  looked  into  your  eyes,  as  she  looked  into 
mine,  then  I  will  say,  in  the  name  of  God.  you  might  have  been 
lost  to  all  that  is  pure  and  holy.  I  became  her  victim,  assumed 
the  disguise  you  saw  me  in,  induced  her  to  accompany  me  on 
board  of  the  steamer  to  sail  down  the  bay  as  far  as  Sandy  Hook. 
When  we  landed  there  and  walked  in  among  the  pines,  I  dis- 
covered a  house  at  a  distance  in  which  I  said  the  family  and  I 
were  old  friends.  That  was  a  lie,  cousin,  for  I  never  was  there 
before  in  my  life.  I  was  self-conceited  enough  to  think  you 
would  not  recognize  me  in  it.  While  I  was  making  arrange- 
ments with  the  women  of  the  house  to  board  us,  the  Little  One 
left  unnoticed  by  any  one,  and  reached  the  steamer.  Xo\v, 
cousin,  how  did  you  discover  who  I  was?" 

The  captain  said,  "I  sent  one  of  my  men  to  that  house  to 
ask  what  had  become  of  you.  She  said  you  remained  there  two 
days.  After  that  she  did  not  know  what  became  of  you  ;  but 
you  had  left  your  pocketbook  under  the  pillow  in  the  bed.  My 
man  brought  the  pocketbook  to  me  as  the  woman  was  anxious 
to  know  who  you  were  and  could  not  read.  In  your  pocketbook 
I  discovered  several  of  your  cards,  also  a  letter  from  your  wife. 
The  woman  accompanied  my  man  to  the  boat  when  I  told  her 
that  I  had  discovered  who  you  were;  that  you  were  a  good 
Christian  and  that  I  would  return  vour  pocketbook  to  you. 
which  I  now  do." 

The  professor  said.  "God  help  me.  she  ensnared  and  be- 
witched me.  and  1  have  fallen  from  the  grace  of  God.  (  Hi.  cousin, 
if  you  will  onlv  keep  m  v  secret  I  will  become  a  mural,  just  and 
honest  man,  and  will  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  my  Lord." 

lie  pleaded  so  that  the  captain  said  that  lie  would  keep  it 
a  secret,  hoping  that  he  would  become  a  moral  man  in  the  tuture. 
This  is  the  tale,  as  Laura  Keene  gave  it  to  me.  <  Mi.  there  lri< 
been  so  much  that  has  taken  place  in  my  Little  (  hic's  lite. 
When  we  were  playing  at  Albany,  state  of  Xew  York,  there- 
was  a  peculiar  thing  that  occurred  there. 


The  company  was  playing  in  a  comedy  called  "The  Danc- 
ing Master  on  a  Lark."  My  Little  One  was  the  booby  pupil  of 
the  dancing  school ;  that  is,  she  could  not  lear  anything  right,  as 
the  other  pupils.  She  was  so  awkward  in  trying  to  learn  the 
dancing  steps  that  all  the  pupils  and  the  dancing  master  got  out 
of  patience  with  her.  He  struck  at  her  feet  with  a  cane.  She 
jumped  up  and  screamed,  falling  into  a  private  box  among  sev- 
eral gentlemen.  One  of  them  lifted  her  up  to  assist  her  to  get 
out  of  the  box.  As  he  did  so  he  kissed  her.  The  affair  was  wit- 
nessed by  the  gallery  gods,  which  was  the  cause  of  a  big  laugh. 
They  hollered  out,  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  "Do  it  again,  old 
man  ;  she  likes  it." 

When  the  curtain  had  dropped  on  the  performance,  Mr. 
Clifford  received  an  invitation  for  the  company  to  attend  a 
lunch  given  in  honor  of  the  booby  pupil.  We  all  attended  in  a 
body.  The  lunch  was  given  in  a  private  room  of  the  governor's 
mansion.  We  enjoyed  ourselves  very  much  on  that  occasion.  I 
noticed  while  there  the  governor  paid  a  good  deal  of  attention 
to  my  Little  One. 

The  man  that  kissed  my  Little  One  in  the  box  became 
jealous.  I  think  he  had  indulged  too  much  in  wine,  for  he  struck 
the  governor  in  the  face,  saying,  "Take  that,  damn  you.  She  is 
not  in  love  with  you  but  with  me,  and  I'm  going  to  marry  her." 
That  man  was  a  president  of  a  bank.  I  thought  it  was  time  to 
take  my  Little  ( )nc  away,  so  we  left  and  went  to  the  hotel 
where  we  were  stopping.  Xext  morning  we  left  on  the  dav  boat 
for  Xew  York  city.  As  my  Little  One  was  in  love  with  the 
Hudson  river,  he  liked  to  sail  up  and  down  on  the  boats.  The 
president  of  the  bank  was  also  on  the  day  boat.  I  went  to  him 
and  calling  him  by  name,  told  him  that  the  Little  One  belonged 
to  me  and  I  wanted  him  to  keep  away.  "If  you  don't,  I  will 
throw  you  into  the  river."  That  intimidated  him  for  a  time. 

He  put  up  at  the  same  hotel  where  we  were  stopping — the 
Xew  York  Hotel.  He  wrote  my  Little  One  a  note  with  a  great 
deal  01  effusion,  called  love  and  endearments,  asking  my  Little 
One  to  meet  him  at  Darnum's  Museum  on  Wednesday  afternoon. 
I  went  to  the  landlord  of  the  hotel,  to  whom  I  was  well  known, 
laving  the  facts  before  him,  asking  him  to  notifv  that  man  to 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  117 

leave  the  hotel  or  my  Little  One  and  I  must  do  so.  The  land- 
lord sanctioned  my  request  by  notifying  the  man  to  leave  the 
the  hotel.  \Ye  had  been  guests  of  the  hotel  off  and  on  for  a  long 
time.  We  always  made  that  our  headquarters  and  were  well 
known  to  the  old  guests  of  the  house. 

That  president  of  the  bank  afterwards  married  one  of  my 
cousins — a  beautiful  young  lady.  Their  first  baby  was  named 
after  my  Little  One. 

I  will  now  close.  You  can  place  this  in  the  communication 
after  the  theft  question,  where  it  belongs.  I  returned  today 
at  the  request  of  Laura  Keene,  she  having  a  strong  desire  that 
the  reading  public  should  understand  she  had  some  acquaint- 
ance with  my  Little  One  and  loved  him  clearly.  She  says  she 
cannot  call  the  Little  One  anything  but  "her,"  as  she  is  more 
of  a  female  than  a  male  and  played  hob  with  any  man  she  fast- 
ened her  eyes  on. 

Such  has  been  the  life  of  my  little  Justin.  Good  day.  Brother 
Hulburd.  I  thank  you. 

Friday,  October  3.   1902. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  I  called  this  morning  to 
give  to  you  an  explanation  and  also  to  the  public,  why  my  Little 
One  was  not  educated.  After  we  had  lived  together  about  six 
months  I  found  he  was  not  educated  and  thought  I  would  un- 
dertake the  task  myself.  I  found  he  was  a  ready  and  apt  pupil, 
but  commenced  to  get  dreadful  headaches;  so  much  so  that  I 
was  afraid  it  would  affect  his  eyesight  and  gave  it  up  for  awhile. 

My  aunt,  the  Little  One  and  myself  made  a  visit  to  "\Yat- 
kins  Glen,  in  the  state  of  New  York.  AYe  remained  there  two 
months  and  I  thought  I  would  get  him  to  take  up  his  lessons 
again,  when  the  headaches  returned.  My  aunt  returned  to  her 
home.  lie  and  I  went  to  Xew  York  city,  where  he  signed  a  con- 
tract to  play  in  the  "Tempest,"  at  the  old  Broadway  Theater, 
lie  played  a  part  called  "Ariel."  After  we  had  gotten  located 
in  comfortable  rooms  I  thought  I  would  try  the  lessons  once 
more,  when  I  discovered  that  he  was  too  tired  after  the  long  re- 
hearsals and  required  a  nap  in  the  afternoon  to  rest.  After  they 
commenced  to  play  the  piece  he  was  more  tired  than  he  was  bo- 
fore,  so  I  saw  it  was  useless  to  make  another  attempt  to  teach 


118        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

him  for  the  present  and  thought  I  would  defer  it  until  the  piece 
had  its  run. 

When  he  had  closed  his  engagement  with  the  managers, 
Mr.  William  Burton  engaged  him  for  Philadelphia.  He  opened 
at  the  Arch  Street  Theater  in  a  play  called  "The  Sailor's  Dream." 
The  play  was  successful  and  ran  for  some  time,  drawing  crowd- 
ed houses. 

Then  I  thought  I  would  have  him  take  up  his  lessons  once 
more.  He  did  so  and  made  fast  progress  for  about  a  month, 
when  the  headaches  returned ;  they  made  him  so  tired  that  he 
commenced  to  show  it  in  his  acting.  Air.  Burton  called  to  see 
me  and  wanted  to  know  what  was  the  matter  with  the  Little 
One,  his  acting  was  not  as  sprightly  as  it  was  at  the  beginning 
of  the  play,  and  his  dancing  and  singing  did  not  have  the  vim 
and  fire  to  it  that  it  had  the  first  two  weeks.  I  told  Mr.  Burton 
I  was  trying -to  educate  him,  as  he  was  quite  ignorant  in  the  line 
of  education.  He  said  to  me,  "Please  stop  it,  until  the  piece  has 
had  its  run.  I  told  him  I  would  do  so,  I  discovered  the  Little 
One  was  quite  wirey  but  not  strong,  and  required  all  the  rest  he 
could  get  in  the  afternoon.  After  he  closed  his  engagement  at 
the  Arch  Street  Theater  he  was  engaged  for  the  Chestnut,  where 
they  produced  "The  Tempest."  He  played  Ariel  again,  and  after 
that  the  Page,  in  "The  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain." 

They  would  hand  him  his  part  and  he  would  bring  it  to  me. 
I  would  read  it  for  him,  as  he  could  not  read  writing.  After  I 
had  read  it  once  he  knew  it  and  was  letter  perfect.  I  think  he 
had  the  most  wonderful  memory  of  any  person  I  ever  met  in 
my  life.  He  would  go  to  rehearsal  next  morning  and  recite  his 
lines  without  the  manuscript,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  com- 
pany. I  remember  at  one  time  they  produced  the  "Star  of  the 
Rhine"  at  the  old  Bowery  Theater — a  play  dramatized  and  trans- 
lated from  the  German.  One  of  the  ladies  of  the  company  who 
was  to  play  a  responsible  part  was  taken  sick — I  think  her  name 
was  Miss  Sally  Sinclair.  She  was  taken  with  convulsions  after 
eating  supper  one  evening.  Mr.  E.  Eddy  came  to  me  of  a  Sun- 
day, saying,  "Mr.  Warren,  do  you  think  that  Justin  would  be 
capable  of  getting  up  in  a  part  for  tomorrow  night?  The  girl  that 
was  to  play  the  part  lies  at  her  home  very  sick.  Xow,  if  you 
would  do  me  the  favor  of  assisting  him  to  get  up  in  the  part  I 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  119 

shall  always  be  your  friend,  and  if  the  piece  draws  well,  I  shall 
make  him  a  present."  I  told  him  I  would  endeavor  to  get  him 
up  in  the  part.  I  would  go  to  where  he  was  visiting  and  get  him 
to  return  home  with  me-,  when  I  would  acquaint  him  with  the 
fact  that  you  wanted  him  to  become  letter  perfect  in  this  part 
for  tomorrow  night.  He  left  me,  thanking  me,  and  bidding  me 
"Good  afternoon." 

I  found  my  Little  One  and  we  returned  to  the  hotel.  I 
told  him  that  Mr.  Eddy  wanted  him  to  play  a  part  tomorrow 
night  in  the  "Star  of  the  Rhine."  He  said,  "Great  Caesar's 
ghost !  that's  too  short  a  time,  papa,  for  me  to  get  up  in  that 
part."  I  told  him  that  Mr.  Eddy  said  he  would  look  upon  it  as 
a  great  favor,  if  he  did.  He  said,  "Well,  I  think  a  great  deal  of 
Mr.  Eddy,  and  I'll  try.  papa,  for  Mr.  Eddy  was  so  good  to  me 
when  I  was  poor — that  time,  papa,  when  I  was  so  little."  I 
laughed  and  said,  "Pet,  you  are  not  very  big  now."  He  said, 
"Well,  I  was  littler  then,  and  Mr.  Eddy  used  to  buy  me  shoes 
and  stockings,  when  my  shoes  were  all  worn  out!" 

He  says,  "I'm  going  to  tell  you  something,  papa.  That 
time  when  I  was  so  poor  and  I  was  helping  Mrs.  Patterson  and 
we  had  to  pay  the  rent,  I  couldn't  get  any  shoes  and  my  feet 
were  out  on  the  ground,  papa."  I  groaned,  and  said,  "Good 
God !  can  it  be  possible  that  those  little  feet  of  yours  were  out 
on  the  ground,  for  the  want  of  a  good  pair  of  shoes?"  He  said. 
"They  were,  papa,  and  it  was  cold  weather,  too,  and  the  snow 
was  on  the  ground :  one  morning  at  rehearsal  Mr.  Eddy  saw 
how  bad  my  shoes  were.  He  took  me  up  in  his  arms  and  carried 
me  to  a  shoe  store  in  the  Bowery  and  bought  me  a  nice  pair 
of  shoes.  That's  the  last  time,  papa,  my  feet  were  out  on  the 
ground.  While  I  was  at  the  Bowery  Theater  then  Mr.  Eddy 
bought  me  five  pairs  of  shoes  and  two  dozen  pairs  of  stockings. 
Now,  I  am  going  to  try  and  learn  the  part." 

He  jumped  up  on  to  my  lap,  saying.  "Go  ahead,  old  man. 
and  read  it."  I  read  the  part  over  for  him  before  dinner  that 
evening.  We  went  to  dinner  and  after  that  we  took  a  walk  to 
get  the  fresh  open  air.  returned  to  the  hotel,  went  to  our  apart- 
ments, locked  the  door  so  that  no  one  would  interrupt  us.  He 
got  up  on  to  my  lap  and  I  commenced  to  read  the  part  for  him 
again.  While  I  was  reading  the  part  several  knocks  came  to  the 


120        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

door.    We  took  no  notice  of  them  whatever  but  went  on  reading. 

After  I  had  read  it  all  through  I  said,  "Now,  Puss,  you 
stand  on  the  floor  and  I  wrill  give  you  your  cues.  Then  we  will 
see  how  much  you  know  of  it."  I  gave  him  his  cues,  and  to  my 
astonishment,  he  read  the  lines — or  I  should  say,  recited  them. 
I  did  not  say  anything  to  him  or  allow  him  to  notice  that  I  was 
surprised,  for  it  was  a  long  part  for  him  to  remember,  but  I 
thought,  "How  wonderful  this  is.  What  a  memory  my  Little 
One  has  got."  He  said,  "Xow,  papa,  if  you  will  play  circus  with 
me  after  we  get  through,  I'm  going  to  treat  you.  Then  we  will 
go  to  bed  and  get  up  rested." 

When  we  had  finished  our  circus  performance  he  went  into 
the  other  room,  brought  out  a  brandy  bottle  and  a  glass.  He 
poured  me  out  a  drink  of  brandy,  saying,  "Xow,  papa,  you  must 
drink  to  the  'Star  of  the  Rhine.'  I  did  so,  while  he  drank  a  little 
water.  He  never  knew  the  taste  of  liquor  until  a  number  of 
years  afterward.  We  retired  for  the  night  and  slept  well. 

In  the  merning  after  breakfast  I  gave  him  his  cues  and  had 
him  recite  his  lines  over  again.  When  we  reached  the  theater 
for  rehearsal,  we  arrived  there  a  little  late,  but  Mr.  Eddy  was 
a  happy  man  when  he  saw  the  Little  One.  I  sat  in  a  box  while 
the  company  rehearsed.  After  rehearsal  was  over,  Mr.  Eddy 
took  my  Little  One  in  his  arms  and  kissed  him,  saying,  "Puss, 
Puss,  you've  got  brains."  The  Little  One  said,  "Papa  has  got 
the  brains  and  I  recite  the  lines."  That  evening  at  the  perform- 
ance the  Little  One  surprised  the  company — they  knowing  what 
a  short  time  my  Little  One  had  to  commit  the  lines  to  memory 
and  understand  the  situations  of  the  piece. 

It  was  such  a  masterpiece  of  work  that  Mr.  Eddy,  after  the 
first  night's  performance,  wrote  an  article  for  the  newspapers 
in  which  he  told  the  public  how  my  Little  One  got  up  the  part 
in  such  a  short  time.  So  I  discovered,  Brother  Hulburd,  there 
was  something  back  of  it  all,  beyond  my  comprehension.  At 
one  time  a  Mr.  Kennedy,  a  fine  musician,  offered  his  services 
free  gratis  to  teach  my  Little  One  how  to  play  the  piano.  The 
Little  <  hie  commenced  to  practice,  but  after  three  weeks  found 
he  had  to  give  it  up  as  it  took  too  much  of  his  strength. 

One  day  after  the  war  was  declared  against  the  South  and 
they  were  hurrying  troops  to  the  front,  I  felt  it  was  my  duty 


GENERAL   GEORGE  WARREN  121 

as  a  man  and  a  soldier  to  give  my  services  to  the  country  that 
I  loved  so  well  and  which  had  educated  me  for  that  purpose — 
the  land  of  freedom,  where  I  first  saw  the  light  of  day  in  that 
physical  body — God  bless  her.  She  is  the  home  for  all  people 
from  all  nations. 

One  day  I  called  my  Little  One  to  me,  saying,  "Pet,  you 
bring  that  foot-rest  here  and  place  it  between  my  legs,  then  sit 
down  on  it,  for  I  want  to  talk  to  you  seriously."  He  said,  "Won't 
that  be  lovely,  for  I  love  everything  that's  serious."  He  placed 
his  foot-rest  between  my  legs  and  sat  doxvn  on  it,  and  looking 
up  at  me  with  one  of  his  roguish  smiles,  said,  "Xow,  Mr.  Teacher, 
I  am  ready  to  be  sacrificed  with  that  seriousness."  I  placed  my 
arms  around  him,  saying,  "Little  One,  suppose  I  was  to  be 
taken  away."  He  said,  "I'd  like  to  see  somebody  do  it.  'Aint 
you  big  enough  to  defend  yourself?  If  anyone  was  to  try  any  such 
business  as  that,  I'd  cut  them."  I  said,  "Little  sweetheart,  you 
don't  understand  me.  Suppose  I  was  to  go  to  the  war  and  get 
shot  down  by  a  bullet,  what  would  you  do,  my  little  sweetheart, 
when  I  went  away  to  that  beautiful  spirit  world  that  you  talk 
so  much  about?"  He  said,  "I  wouldn't  do  a  damn  thing,  but  get 
mad,"  which  made  me  laugh.  I  said,  "Xow,  Pet,  I  am  coming  to 
the  serious  part  of  what  I  want  to  tell  you.  It  is  time  that  we 
reason  with  one  another  and  talk  over  what  might  happen  in 
the  future."  He  says,  "Golly,  papa,  it  must  be  grand  to  talk 
like  you  do.  You're  just  like  an  angel,  but  you  wear  pants,  don't 
you?  The  angels  don't  wear  anything:  they  haven't  developed 
far  enough  yet."  I  could  see  that  my  Little  (hie  did  not  want 
to  talk  seriously:  it  was  my  duty  and  1  told  him  he  must  listen 
to  me.  I  said,  "Suppose  your  papa  was  to  get  wounded  and  not 
die  and  you  were  fixed  in  such  a  condition  that  you  could  not 
get  to  me?"  "Get  to  you."  he  said.  "All  hell  could  not  stop  me." 
"Hut,  suppose  you  didn't  know  that  I  was  wounded.''  He  said. 
"Hut,  I  would  know."  I  said.  "How  could  you?"  He  said. 
"The  voice  would  tell  me:  then  T  would  go  to  you.  and  if  the}' 
didn't  treat  you  good.  I'd  annihilate  the  whole  outfit."  which 
made  me  laugh. 

Just  then  we  heard  a  voice  that  spoke  very  distinctly — a 
heavy,  masculine  voice.  The  voice  said.  "\\  e  have  chosen  the 
Little  (  me  to  play  a  part  between  the  two  armies."  I  said  to 


122         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

the  voice,  "What  part  do  you  mean?"  It  said,  ''That  of  a  spy." 
I  said,  "Good  God,  not  that?"  It  said,  "Yes,  that."  "But,"  I 
said,  "I  cannot  give  my  Little  One  up  for  any  such  work  as 
that."  The  voice  laughed  and  said,  "Are  you  the  master  of  the 
situation  or  we?"  "But,"  I  said,  "just  think  of  it — that  you  de- 
mand such  a  sacrifice  from  this  little  fragile  creature  who  is  not 
strong  enough  to  carry  out  such  a  work — it  is  wicked  and  cruel, 
and  I  cannot  allow  it."  The  voice  laughed  and  said,  "We  shall 
see  whether  you  will  allow  it  or  not.  He  just  suits  our  purpose 
and  was  brought  to  this  country  for  that  work.  Do  you  think 
that  this  war  has  only  been  created  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
for  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years?  If  you  do,  you  are  not  wise  but 
a  fool."  I  then  said,  "You  are  a  damned  mean,  wicked  class  of 
spirits  to  demand  any  such  sacrifice  from  this  Little  One  that 
I  love  so  much  and  would  give  my  life  for  at  any  time.  Is  it 
not  enough  that  I  go  into  the  field  and  give  orders  to  men  to 
shoot  down  their  brothers  of  the  human  race?  Damn  you  for  a 
selfish  set!"  The  voice  laughed  and  said,  "Look  to  it  that  you 
do  not  harm  the  cause  that  we  have  laid  out  for  the  Little  One 
to  walk  through  and  carry  out  with  all  the  satisfaction  of  our 
desire." 

Just  then  the  Little  One  seemed  to  become  a  changed  per- 
son. He  jumped  into  the  center  of  the  floor,  gave  one  of  his 
Highland  yells,  and  said,  "I  am  ready  for  the  work.  Oh,  I  am 
just  wild  to  commence  it  tomorrow.  I  want  to  see  men's  blood 
run.  then  I'll  be  happy."  He  gave  another  yell  and  threw  him- 
self on  the  floor.  He  commenced  to  crawl  and  wriggle  like  a 
snake  across  the  floor.  He  yelled  out.  "Papa  Warren,  just  see 
how  I  can  enter  the  enemies'  lines."  He  crawled  under  a  chair 
that  I  did  not  think  that  he  could  pass  under.  After  he  had  done 
that  he  jumped  to  his  feet,  gave  another  yell,  then  embraced  me 
passionately,  kissing  me  with  all  the  fire  in  his  nature,  after 
which  he  pushed  me  from  him,  saying,  "You  are  only  a  man  and 
a  soldier  after  all,  while  I  am  a  servant  of  the  spirit  world  and  no 
one  can  stay  my  course.  If  they  attempt  it  I  shall  wade  through 
blood  and  carry  on  my  work  to  the  end."  Then  he  gave  a  laugh 
like  a  maniac  and  rushed  from  the  room. 

That  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him  for  three  months.  I  wept 
and  cried  like  a  child  for  I  was  brokenhearted.  I  then  cursed 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  123 

the  spirits,  for  they  had  taken  from  me  all  that  I  loved  in  life 
and  lived  for. 

I  took  my  position  in  the  army  and  after  awhile  entered 
upon  the  field  to  do  my  duty  as  a  man  and  a  soldier,  which  my 
brother  officers  could  testify  to.  One  day  I  was  lying  on  the 
couch  in  my  tent  when  a  little  lad  came  up  all  ragged,  with  his 
clothes  covered  with  mud.  He  told  the  guard  on  duty  that  he 
wanted  to  see  that  ar  Mr.  Officer  in  there.  The  guard  called  me 
to  the  front  of  the  tent.  I  came  out,  and  there  stood  a  little  raga- 
muffin wiping  his  nose  on  the  sleeve  of  an  oldsoldier's  coat.  The 
old  coat  almost  touched  the  ground  and  he  had  a  vest  on  him 
big  enough  for  a  coat,  an  old  pair  of  boots  on  his  legs  and  feet. 
He  had  red  hair  and  an  old  cap  on  his  head.  He  said,  "Are  you 
the  mister  what's  looking  after  them  ar  soljer  men?"  I  told  him 
I  was  the  officer  that  had  comand  of  that  department.  He  took 
an  old  clay  pipe  out  of  his  vest  pocket,  handing  it  toward  me, 
said,  "Can  you  fill  that  with  tobaker  for  a  chap?"  \Yhen  he 
said  that  the  guard  commenced  to  laugh.  I  said,  "\Yhat  do  you 
want  me  to  fill  it  with  tobacco  for?"  He  said,  "I  wants  to 
smoke  a  hossifer's  tobaker  once,"  and  before  I  could  stop  him 
he  walked  right  into  the  tent.  I  heard  the  guard  say,  "Jesus,  but 
that's  a  rum  one :  he's  got  more  cheek  than  a  mule."  \Yhen  he 
got  into  the  center  of  the  tent  he  said,  "Can't  you  give  a  feller  a 
drink?"  and  threw  himself  on  to  my  bed  with  all  those  dirty 
clothes  on.  I  said,  "Here,  you  get  off  there  and  get  out  of  this 
tent  or  I'll  kick  you  out." 

Then  the  words  came  from  that  musical  voice  that  I  loved 
so  well,  "Papa  Warren,  don't  you  know  me?"  I  grabbed  him  in 
my  arms  and  kissed  the  dirty  face,  saying.  "Puss,  Puss,  you 
have  come  back  to  me,  but  why  are  you  in  those  filthy  rags?" 
He  said,  "Papa,  this  is  part  of  my  stock  in  trade.  I  have  some 
papers  for  you  to  look  at,  read  them  and  tell  me  what  to  do. 
papa?"  I  said,  "Oh,  my  Little  One,  give  up  this  business  and 
come  and  live  with  papa." 

lie  said.  "I  can't,  papa.  Please  look  at  the  papers  quick  and 
tell  me  what  to  do."  I  looked  over  the  papers  and  told  him 
they  must  roach  the  President's  hand's  as  quickly  as  possible. 
I  told  him  I  would  see  that  a  soldier  conveyed  them  to  the 
President  as  quickly  as  possible.  lie  said.  "Xo.  you  won't 


124        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

papa;  I  will  take  them  myself."  I  said,  "Not  in  those  dirty, 
filthy  clothes."  When  I  had  said  that  he  commenced  to  undress 
and  take  the  old  rags  off,  stepped  out  of  the  boots,  and  there 
stood  in  a  pretty  blue  uniform,  consisting  of  jacket,  pants  and 
nice  shoes.  "Now,  you  see,  papa,  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  wash  my 
face  and  comb  my  hair."  He  did  so,  and  once  more  I  gazed  on 
that  sweet  little  face  with  all  the  admiration  of  my  nature, 
thinking  of  the  many  times  it  laid  fast  asleep  on  my  breast  and  I 
was  a  happy  man  then ;  but  oh,  what  a  change  had  come  into 
our  lives. 

He  unbuttoned  his  jacket  and  took  from  the  inside  a  pretty 
military  cap.  When  he  had  placed  it  upon  his  head,  he  said, 
"Now,  papa,  don't  you  think  I  am  fit  to  look  at  Old  Abe?"  I 
laughed  and  took  him  in  my  arms,  saying,  "But,  you're  a  wee 
bit  of  a  soldier.  I  will  go  with  you  to  the  President."  We 
started  for  Washington  on  horseback  and  arrived  there  that 
night.  We  were  admitted  into  the  President's  presence.  I  pre- 
sented him  the  papers.  While  handing  them  to  him,  I  saw  the 
President  wink  at  my  Little  One,  which  surprised  me.  I  said, 
"Mr.  President,  have  you  met  my  Little  One  before  in  such  a 
capacity  as  this?"  He  said,  "Oh,  yes,  colonel;  we  have  met 
before."  "How  many  times?"  I  asked.  He  said,  in  a  casual 
way,  "Oh,  I  think  about  three  times."  I  said,  "Is  there  any  one 
here  in  your  household  that  knows  what  brings  my  Little  One 
here?"  He  said,  "No;  not  a  soul."  I  then  said,  "Abraham  Lin- 
coln, will  you  give  me  your  solemn  oath  that  no  one  shall  ever 
know  what  brings  my  boy  here  to  the  White  House?"  He 
caught  hold  of  my  hand,  saying,  "I  swear  it,  Mr.  Warren,  that 
no  one  shall  ever  know  our  secret."  I  said,  "That  is  satisfactory, 
Mr.  Lincoln.  I  wish  my  boy  would  give  this  work  up."  The 
President  said,  "The  Little  One  tells  me  he  cannot  give  it  up — 
he  is  commanded  by  a  voice  and  must  obey."  I  said,  "Oh,  damn 
the  voice.  I  wish  they'd  let  him  alone  and  choose  a  man  for 
their  work."  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  "My  friend  Warren,  they  under- 
stand and  you  do  not.  Let  them  have  their  way,  and  it  will 
come  out  all  right."  I  said,  "I  suppose  I'll  have  to."  He  said, 
"You  and  your  boy  must  dine  with  me  today.  It  is  late  but  we 
will  have  a  little  lunch  by  ourselves  for  I  have  some  work  for 
the  boy  to  do,  and  while  we  are  dining  I  can  give  him  an  ex- 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  125 

planation  of  it  and  how  to  carry  it  out."  After  we  had  finished 
the  little  repast  I  bade  the  President  good  bye.  He  said  he 
would  keep  my  boy  for  a  little  while  and  then  let  him  out  the 
back  way.  I  left  for  the  field  once  more  hoping  to  see  my  Little 
One  often. 

They  tell  me  I  must  stop  now  and  take  it  up  another  time. 

Saturday,   October  4,   1902. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  Some  time  after  General 
Grant  was  placed  in  a  position  where  he  became  commanding 
general  of  the  army  my  Little  One  was  playing  at  the  theater 
in  Washington.  There  was  a  gentleman,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Bur- 
ton's and  also  of  Mr.  Callahan's,  introduced  to  my  Little  One. 
After  they  had  conversed  awhile  my  Little  One  withdrew  to  his 
dressing  room  to  prepare  for  the  evening  performance.  \Yhile 
in  his  dressing  room  he  heard  Mr.  Callahan  speaking  to  that 
man  in  the  adjoining  room,  where  there  was  only  a  board  par- 
tition between.  He  heard  the  man  say,  ''Lee's  got  a  fine  snap 
fixed  up  for  Grant.  He  is  going  to  surround  him  and  gobble  up 
him  and  his  staff.  I  have  a  copy  of  a  diagram  showing  how  he 
will  surround  Grant  and  his  men.  It  was  given  to  me  by  one 
of  Lee's  aid's.  I  am  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  it.  That  di- 
agram is  at  my  quarters  now." 

The  Little  One  one  day  rode  up  in  front  of  my  quarters 
dressed  as  a  dashing  young  Southern  belle.  She  had  a  blonde 
wig  on  and  long  blonde  curls  falling  down  her  back.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  blue  gown  of  some  material  that  I  do  not  know  the 
name  of.  She  had  on  her  head  a  large  hat  with  a  wreath  of 
daisies  around  the  crown.  "When  she  rode  up  in  front  of  my 
quarters  she  requested  my  guard  that  was  on  duty — I  heard  her 
say,  "Good  Mr.  Soldier,  will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  ask  that  officer 
in  there  to  step  out  here.  There  is  a  lady  that  wains  to  speak 
with  him."  I  went  out  to  see  what  the  lady  wanted,  and  to  my 
surprise  there  was  my  Little  One  sitting  <»n  a  bay  horse  dressed 
just  as  I  have  described  to  you.  I  said  in  a  low  voice,  "In  the 
name  of  God,  Puss,  why  are  you  dressed  like  this,  riding  in 
among  an  army  of  soldiers?"  She  said,  "If  y<  m  will  assist  me  to 
dismount  and  invite  me  into  your  tent  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it." 
I  did  so  and  had  a  soldier  attend  to  her  horse.  When  she  en- 


126         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

tered  the  tent  she  commenced  to  laugh  in  such  a  way  I  knew 
there  was  hell  a-brewing.  I  said,  "Now,  Pet,  what  brings  you 
here  in  this  disguise?"  She  tickled  me  in  the  side,  saying,  "Papa, 
I'm  on  a  lark.  Now,  don't  look  so  grim,  old  man,  or  your  Puss 
won't  kiss  you."  I  stooped  down  and  she  kissed  me.  After  she 
had  done  that  she  said,  "Ye  Gods,  I  have  a  tale  to  unfold  that 
would  harrow  up  a  rebel's  soul  and  if  he  is  not  careful  he'll  soon 
lay  in  the  mould."  And  then  she  laughed  again.  When  she  got 
through  laughing,  she  said,  "Thou  severe  and  dismal  judge  I 
have  just  come  from  inside  the  rebel  lines.  I  have  been  on  the 
mash  today,  and  am  engaged  to  marry  a  Southern  officer — a 
gentleman  of  quality,  your  lordship."  I  said,  "Puss,  Puss,  what 
does  this  all  mean?"  She  said.  "It  all  means  that  I  am  to  pass 
through  inside  of  the  rebel  lines  tonight  dressed  as  a  boy  who 
will  bring  communications  to  my  future  husband  from  me — that 
is,  if  he  behaves  himself.  If  he  don't  papa,  he  will  bite  the 
dust."  I  said,  "Good  God,  you  wouldn't —  "  and  before  I  had 
finished  the  sentance,  she  said,  "Wouldn't  I  ?  I  allow  no  one 
to  stand  in  my  way  when  I  have  work  to  carry  out."  Then  she 
related  to  me  what  she  had  overheard  in  Washington.  She 
said.  "Papa  Warren,  I  have  fascinated  that  man,  sat  on  his  lap, 
kissed  and  hugged  him.  You  may  think  it  is  wicked,  but  I  think 
it's  grand.  I  met  that  man  today  by  appointment  and  have 
promised  to  marry  him  ;  tonight  I  carry  a  message  to  him.  I 
will  enter  his  camp  and  profess  to  be  very  tired  asking  permission 
to  sleep  in  his  tent  all  night,  as  I  am  the  brother  of  the  woman  he 
is  going  to  marry.  Poor  foolish  dupe.  I  must  get  posses- 
sion of  that  diagram  and  other  papers  if  I  can.  I  will  return 
here  tonight,  if  I  possibly  can,  so  papa  be  on  the  lookout  for  me. 
I  stood  there  like  a  dumb  mute.  When  I  found  my  tongue  I 
said,  "Oh.  Puss,  quit  this  business  and  come  and  live  with  your 
papa.  I  think  those  damned  spirits  ought  to  release  you  now. 
you  have  served  their  purpose  long  enough,  to  my  way  of  think- 
ing. One  of  those  times  that  you  are  passing  through  the  lines 
between  the  two  armies  you  will  be  shot  down."  She  laughed 
again  one  of  those  hilarious  laughs,  more  like  a  mad  person  than 
a  sane  individual.  She  grit  her  teeth  and  fastened  her  eyes 
on  me,  looking  like  a  she  devil.  When  she  opened  her  mouth  she 
hissed  out  the  words:  "All  Heaven  and  hell  could  not  prevent  me 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  127 

from  entering  the  rebel  camp  tonight."  She  said,  "Oh,  Papa 
Warren,  how  I  love  the  work,"  and  it  just  seemed  to  me  she 
grew  a  foot  taller  there. 

I  was  about  to  say  something  else  when  General  Sheridan 
drove  up  in  front  of  my  quarters.  He  dismounted,  handing  over 
his  horse  to  his  orderly  to  take  care  of.  He  entered  my  tent, 
saying,  "Hello,  Warren,  old  boy;  how  are  you?"  When  he 
discovered  there  was  a  lady  present  he  bowed  to  her  very  grace- 
fully. She  courtseyed  as  many  of  the  Southern  ladies  do.  She 
smiled  upon  him  with  all  the  coquetry  of  a  flirt.  I  was  about 
to  introduce  her  when  she  stepped  forward,  placing  her  hand 
in  his,  saying,  "I  believe  I  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  General 
Kilpatrick."  He  said,  "Xo,  lady;  my  name  is  Sheridan." 

She  knew  who  he  was  all  the  time.  She  had  met  him  sev- 
eral times  before,  but  always  dressed  as  a  boy.  She  said,  "Oh, 
how  delightful  this  is  that  I  should  be  so  fortunate  to  meet 
General  Sheridan  in  this  grim  old  man's  tent,  who  looks  like  he 
could  freeze  up  all  the  milk  in  our  sunny  South.  My  name, 
General,  is  Isabelle  Graham,  of  the  Graham  family  of  Richmond." 
He  said,  "How  fortunate  I  am  to  meet  you.  Miss  Graham."  Then 
they  ignored  me,  entirely  occupying  the  only  chairs  in  the  tent. 
I  went  and  lay  on  my  bed,  where  I  could  watch  them  out  of  the 
corner  of  my  eye.  I  noticed  that  he  was  becoming  fascinated 
by  her,  she  throwing  out  all  the  fascinating  powers  that  were 
within  her.  She  caught  him  in  her  net  and  he  became  her  slave 
and  admirer  for  a  while.  After  she  had  played  with  him  as  she 
would  with  a  kitten  she  arose  and  said,  "Xow,  General,  I  must 
leave  you."  You  are  so  entertaining,  but  I  must  break  away  or 
I  will  not  reach  home  until  it  is  dark,  and  as  you  know  it  does 
not  look  proper  for  a  young  lady  to  be  gallivanting  around  the 
country  alter  nightfall."  He  took  her  hand  and  said.  "( )h, 
must  you  go  now?"  She  said,  "Yes;  1  must  leave."  He  said, 
"So  soon?" — holding  her  hand  over  his  heart.  1  smiled  inwardly 
and  said  to  myself,  "Another  one  to  add  to  the  list." 

She  said,  "General,  I  must  leave.  I  have  delivered  my  mes- 
sage to  this  gentleman  here,"  pointing  to  me.  She  said  to  me, 
"Good,  honored  sir,  will  you  sec  that  my  horse  is  brought  to  the 
front  of  your  tent?"  Then  she  turned  to  General  Sheridan,  sav- 
ing, "Since  I  have  found  you  such  a  delightful  gentleman  I  hope 


128         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

many  of  the  other  Union  officers  are  of  the  same  stripe."  He 
said,  "Most  assuredly,  where  a  lady  is  concerned."  I  went  out 
and  gave  orders  for  her  horse  to  be  brought  in  front  of  the  tent. 
What  they  said  during  the  time  that  I  was  out  I  cannot  tell,  but 
when  I  returned  he  had  her  in  his  arms  kissing  her  passionately 
like  a  madman.  "When  he  saw  me  he  released  her.  She  said, 
"Oh,  General,  you  are  so  gushing  on  so  short  an  acquaintance, 
but  I  will  ask  one  favor  of  you,  since  I  have  found  you  are  such 
a  gentleman,  that  is,  you  will  assist  me  to  mount."  She  turned 
around  and  bowed  to  me  with  all  the  graciousness  of  a  grand 
dame,  saying,  "Ta-ta,  old  freezer,"  waving  her  hand,  she  said, 
"Come,  General,  assist  me."  She  placed  one  foot  in  the  stirrup, 
the  other  in  his  hand  and  vaulted  into  the  saddle.  She  threw 
back  a  kiss  and  galloped  off.  The  General  returned  into  my 
tent  and  said,  "God,  but  she  is  a  fine  piece  of  humanity."  He 
slapped  me  on  the  back,  saying,  "Do  you  know,  old  man,  I 
kissed  her?"  I  said,  I  thought  it  looked  that  way. 

He  shook  my  hand,  saying,  "\Yarren,  my  boy,  I  had  her 
little  foot  in  my  hand  and  I  squeezed  it,  too.  You  old  sour 
bachelor,  did  you  see  those  eyes?"  I  said  to  him,  "I  think  you 
did."  He  said,  "Those  are  glorious  eyes.  Warren,  my  boy.  God. 
how  I'd  like  to  visit  her  father's  home.  How  comes  it,  old  man, 
that  you've  soured  on  all  the  women?"  I  said,  "General,  I  have 
not  soured  on  all  the  women.  I  love  a  true,  honorable  woman — 
a  woman  that  is  a  natural  mother  and  an  honor  to  the  human 
race.  Xow,  General  Sheridan,  if  you  will  give  me  your  solemn 
oath  that  you  will  not  tell  what  I  am  going  to  reveal  to  you  ;  it 
it  a  secret  and  must  be  kept  so."  He  placed  his  hand  on  his 
heart  and  said,  "On  my  soul,  as  a  gentleman  and  a  soldier,  I 
will  keep  your  secret."  I  said,  "Xow,  listen  to  me.  That  per- 
son that  you  have  become  so  infatuated  with,  her  name  is  not 
Miss  Graham;  neither  is  she  of  Southern  birth."  lie  was  about 
to  speak.  I  motioned  for  him  to  keep  quiet.  I  said,  "Hear  me 
through  and  after  I  have  finished,  then  you  can  express  your- 
self. That  person  that  you  held  in  your  arms  today  is  not  as 
young  as  you  think;  she  has  passed  her  thirtieth  year."  I  saw 
his  lips  twitch  and  knew  what  he  was  about  to  say.  I  said, 
"General.  I  met  that  person  in  1848.  She  was  then  almost 
twenty  years  of  age.  I  met  her  in  the  month  of  September.  On 


GENERAL   GEORGE  WARREN  129 

the  twenty-second  day  of  November  she  would  reach  her  twen- 
tieth year.  I  have  known  her  ever  since — at  least  I  thought  so 
once,  but  I  have  lived  to  know  I  have  made  a  mistake.  I  love 
that  person,  General."  He  could  hold  in  no  longer,  when  he  said. 
"Well,  I'll  be  damned."  I  said,  "Keep  quiet  and  hear  me  to  the 
end  of  my  story.  That  person  that  was  here  today,  General,  is 
my  Little  One.  The  one  that  you  always  saw  dressed  in  boy's 
clothes  and  is  called  by  you  military  men,  'Little  Warren.'  He 
is  a  Union  spy — the  private  spy  of  Abraham  Lincoln."  He 
jumped  to  his  feet,  saying.  "Good  God,  \\'arren,  is  this  true  what 
you  tell  me — and  you  allow  it?"  I  said,  "I  cannot  help  myself. 
I  saw  that  you  were  smitten  today.  She  is  a  born  flirt  and  can- 
not help  it.  1  call  her  'she'  because  she  is  of  both  natures — the 
female  predominating.  In  that  disguise  that  you -saw  her  she 
just  came  from  inside  of  the  rebel  lines,  where  she  has  promised 
to  marry  a  Southern  officer."  He  said.  "1  felt  as  if  she  owned 
me.  body  and  soul."  "Aye,"  I  said,  "and  many  others  have  felt 
the  same  way."  I  continued.  "General.  I  love  that  Little  One 
with  my  whole  heart  and  would  lay  my  life  down  for  her,  did 
she  but  ask  it.  She  obeys  the  command  of  a  spirit  voice  that 
directs  all  her  movements.  Do  you  remember  at  Mr.  Newel's 
rooms  in  Washington,  when  you.  General  Meade,  General  Logan, 
General  Landis.  the  Little  One  and  myself  were  present.  Dur- 
ing our  conversation  that  evening,  Mr.  Newel  brought  up  the 
question  of  science  and  said  that  the  relations  of  the  planets  to 
each  other  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  this  war.  Do  yon  re- 
member that  after  he  had  talked  quite  a  while  he  said.  'Gentle- 
men and  scholars,  now  I  want  to  hear  your  opinion  on  the  ques- 
tion.' When  all  of  a  sudden  my  Little  One  arose  and  spoke  on 
the  question,  giving  quite  a  scientific  discourse.  After  he  had 
finished  they  all  looked  rather  solemn,  when  General  Landis 
said.  'So,  this  is  the  little  chap  that  has  no  education"'  What  a 
fish  story  you  have  been  giving  us.  \\arreii.'  1  spoke  up  and 
said.  'If  you  remember,  gentlemen.  1  have  tried  to  educate  him 
but  have  found  it  a  failure.'  Mr.  Newel  said.  'I  understand,  Mr. 
Warren:  but  the  general  masses  of  the  world  cannot  seem  to 
understand.' 

"If  you    remember,   when    we   were   about    to   break   up.   my 
Little  One  jumped  up  on  the  lop  of  the  table  and  said.  'Let   us 


130         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

pray.'  \Ye  all  stood  up  when  he  said,  'That  will  not  do;  you 
must  all  get  down  on  your  knees  when  I  pray."  We  did  so, 
laughing  at  the  same  time.  He  prayed  for  about  ten  minutes  and 
jumped  off  the  table  onto  Logan's  back,  when  we  all  laughed. 
Sheridan  said,  "I  remember  it  well,  Warren,  and  Meade  and  I 
have  laughed  about  that  several  times.  Meade  always  said  your 
boy  was  a  freak  in  nature."  I  said,  "Xow,  I  do  not  suppose  that 
you  believe  anything  in  spirit  return?"  He  said,  "Oh,  yes,  I  do; 
I  had  a  number  of  sittings  with  a  man  who  called  himself  Charles 
Foster,  and  he  told  me  wonderful  things  about  my  family ;  also 
telling  me  that  I  would  become  one  of  the  leading  generals  of 
the  war,  and  perhaps,  Warren,  my  boy,  I  am  on  the  road."  He 
continued,  "How  strange  it  all  seems — we  think  we  understand 
ourselves  and. others,  too,  but  I  am  afraid  it  is  a  failure;  that  is 
why  I  want  to  believe  in  religion.  I  want  to  get  on  the  right 
side  of  the  question,  if  I  can.  Do  you  think  your  Little  One  will 
ever  return  to  you  again  and  be  the  same  loving  little  creature 
that  he  had  been  before  the  war  commenced?"  I  said  I  could 
not  tell,  but  lived  in  hopes  he  would  do  so,  for  my  heart  yearned 
for  his  love.  He  said,  "Well,  this  has  been  a  clay  that  I  shall 
never  forget.  It  shows  a  man  can  be  a  warrior  and  face  the 
enemy,  but  in  the  power  of  a  pretty  face  and  under  the  spell  of  a 
fascinating  flirt,  what  a  weak  tool  he  can  become.  Warren, 
see  that  you  keep  my  secret,  in  which  I  played  a  foolish  part 
under  the  spell  of  those  eyes.  Your  secret  will  go  to  the  grave 
with  me.  You  have  all  my  love  and  sympathy,  for  I  am  sorry 
for  you.  I  wish  that  you  could  be  released  from  all  this."  I 
told  him,  "That  was  impossible.  I  had  only  love  for  one,  and 
that  one  fascinated  you  here  today  and  you  would  have  become 
a  disgraced  man,  knowing  what  I  do  of  your  domestic  life.  We 
embraced  each  other  as  brothers,  he  leaving  for  his  headquarters. 
Xext  morning  about  four  o'clock  my  Little  One  rode  up  to 
my  tent  on  a  bay  horse,  leading  a  beautiful  cream-colored  mare. 
He  called  me  out  of  bed.  I  had  not  taken  my  clothes  off  that 
night.  I  had  only  laid  down  on  top  of  the  bed  waiting  for  my 
Little  One  to  come,  if  it  was  possible  and  hoping  that  he  had 
not  been  shot.  He  took  some  papers  out  of  his  breast  which 
were  inside  his  shirt  and  jacket.  He  said,  "Papa,  examine  those 
and  if  the  copy  of  the  diagram  is  there  see  that  it  is  conveyed  to 


GENERAL  GEORGE  WARREN  131 

General  Grant.  Now,  I  am  off  for  Washington."  I  said,  "Puss, 
what  are  you  doing  with  this  other  horse  and  saddle?"  He 
said,  "It's  rider  does  not  require  it  any  longer;  he  was  in  the 
capacity  of  being  tickled  and  I  tickled  him  with  a  little  piece 
of  lead."  I  said,  "Oh,  God!  where  will  this  all  end?"  He  said, 
"On  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  perhaps,"  and  then  rode  off,  lead- 
ing the  other  horse.  I  examined  the  papers  and  found  the  copy 
of  the  diagram  that  General  Lee  had  drawn  up.  I  had  it  con- 
veyed to  General  Grant. 

My  Little  One  told  me  that  during  the  war  he  had  to  shoot 
down  seven  different  men  who  he  said  got  in  his  way,  and  he  had 
to  get  them  out  of  it.  When  I  was  wounded  in'  front  of  Peters- 
burg, the  voice  told  him  of  what  had  occurred  and  he  came  di- 
rect to  me.  When  he  found  me  the  surgeon  was  about  to  per- 
form an  operation  by  sawing  off  my  arm.  They  called  it  am- 
putation. The  Little  One  said,  "What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
my  father?"  The  surgeon  said,  "We  will  have  to  amputate  his 
arm  to  save  his  life."  The  Little  One  said,  "Xot,  by  a  damn 
sight,  you  don't.  I'll  save  his  life  by  nursing  him  back  to  health. 
I  will  dress  the  wound  myself  and  you  and  your  assistants  will 
furnish  what  is  required."  The  surgeon  said,  "Stand  aside,  boy. 
This  is  no  time  for  foolishness.  We  want  no  kids  coming  here 
telling  us  what  we  shall  do."  The  surgeon  told  me  afterwards 
that  the  Little  One  drew  a  big  dagger  out  of  his  breast  and  said. 
"I  will  tell  you  what  I  will  do;  you  will  let  him  alone.  The  first 
man  that  touches  him  I  will  kill."  He  said  he  looked  into  those 
eyes  and  he  knew  they  meant  business.  He  thought  it  was  best 
to  let  that  operation  go  for  a  little  while.  He  sent  for  General 
Sheridan  to  give  him  a  pass  to  take  me  to  Washington.  I  was 
unconscious  for  three  days.  The  first  thing  that  I  recognized 
after  I  returned  to  consciousness  was  my  Little. One's  face.  lie 
said,  "Papa,  you  are  going  to  live.  Your  Puss  is  going  to  nurse 
you  back  to  health,  so  be  a  soldier  now  and  don't  feel  bad.  This 
man  and  myself  are  about  to  dress  your  wound."  The}'  dressed 
my  wound,  which  was  the  cause  of  great  pain. 

My  Little  One  remained  with  me.  nursing  me  like  a  m«>theT 
would  her  child.  When  my  agony  was  great  and  1  was  feverish 
he  would  sing  me  a  low.  sweet  lullaby,  all  the  time  treating  nix- 
forehead  with  his  hands.  After  a  while  the  pain  would  become 


132         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

less  and  I  would  pass  into  a  sleep  for  a  little  while.  He  was  up 
with  me  night  and  day.  Although  my  pain  sometimes  was  hard 
to  bear.  I  was  happy  to  think  I  had  him  with  me  again.  He 
nursed  me  back  to  health,  saving  my  arm  and  saving  my  life.  I 
returned  to  the  field  again,  taking  up  my  duties  and  he  going  to 
his. 

Before  the  war  had  closed — that  is,  before  the  death  of 
Abraham  Lincoln — he  returned  to  me  again  and  was  with  me 
all  the  next  summer. 

When  most  of  the  army  was  mustered  out  we  returned  to 
Philadelphia,  where  I  was  once  more  a  happy  man.  We  lived 
in  each  other's  love  until  I  passed  from  my  body.  The  army  life 
had  done  its  work ;  it  had  placed  the  seeds  of  consumption  in  my 
lungs  and  I  passed  away,  leaving  the  Little  One  alone  to  struggle 
through  life.  I  left  him  over  $100,000,  thinking  that  would  pro- 
vide for  him  the  rest  of  his  days  while  living  in  his  physical  body; 
but,  alas  !  it  passed  away  from  him,  and  he  had  to  struggle  again. 
He  went  on  a  man's  bond  by  the  name  of  Charles  C.  Howard. 
That  man  failed  and  my  Little  One  was  swamped.  I  have  met 
the  spirit  of  this  man  Howard.  He  said  he  could  not  help  him- 
self, and  my  Little  One  had  to  go  down  with  him.  But  he  was 
always  full  of  grit  and  courage.  He  struggled  on,  and  today  you 
see  he  is  old  and  feeble.  I  am  giving  incidents  which  took  place 
in  his  own  life  and  through  his  own  forces,  for  it  is  the  only 
way  the  public  will  ever  receive  it. 

At  one  time  in  my  life  I  married  a  woman  who  bore  me 
children  and  they  called  me  "father."  I  never  loved  that  woman; 
there  was  nothing  congenial  between  us.  I  educated  my  chil- 
dren, for  I  thought  that  was  all  that  was  required  of  me,  since 
I  could  not  live  with  their  mother. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  bid 
vou  irood  dav. 


Mrs.  Patterson  Sheldon 

•  Chapter  VII 


Wednesday,  October  15,  1902. 

Good  morning,  sir.  What  a  lovely  day  it  is — I  would  call  it 
one  of  Nature's  perfect  days.  The  sky  is  beautiful  and  throws 
a  sheen  of  light  upon  the  live  oaks.  One  living  here  must  feel 
that  they  live  in  an  enchanted  dell — this  would  be  a  place  for  the 
naiads  to  revel  and  hold  their  carnival  of  the  Sun  God.  How- 
grand  it  must  be  to  be  born  and  raised  in  these  mountains.  It 
seems  to  me  almost  an  impossibility  for  anyone  to  be  sick  here. 

When  I  lived  in  the  physical  body  I  bore  the  name  of  Clover 
Patterson.  My  father  always  said  I  looked  like  a  clover  blossom 
and  they  nicknamed  me  "Clover  Patterson.''  I  was  christened 
Florence  Patterson.  I  was  born  in  the  state  of  Xorth  Carolina. 

Of  course  you  understand,  when  I  lived  in  the  physical  body 
I  was  a  southern  lady  and  loved  all  the  ways  of  the  south  and 
the  southern  people.  I  stood  up  for  southern  rights  and  was 
what  you  northern  people  call  a  bitter  rebel.  "When  I  lived  in 
the  bod\'  I  looked  upon  you  northern  people  as  the  worst  kind  of 
rebels. 

You  robbed  us  of  our  negroes,  tried  to  force  us  to  submit  to 
vour  ideas  of  what  was  right  and  wrong.  After  the  war  com- 
menced 1  hated  the  north  and  the  Yankees  with  everv  breath  I 
drew.  My  father  was  a  southern  gentleman  and  an  officer  in  the 
southern  army. 

I  come  here  today  at  the  request  of  a  band  of  spirits,  and 
especiall v  through  the  advice  of  one  who  savs  when  he  lived  in 
a  phvsical  bodv  he  was  an  officer  in  the  northern  army  and 
bore  the  name  of  Warren.  It  is  his  desire  that  I  should  relate 
to  vou  a  part  of  this  Medium's  life,  in  which  I  had  a  connection 
and  also  played  a  part.  They  sav  that  they  wish  the  public  to 
understand  something  of  this  Medium's  life — that  is.  the  indivi- 


134        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

dual  through  whom  I  now  communicate.  They  say  they  do  not 
wish  that  he  should  pass  from  his  body  and  the  world  should  be 
ignorant  of  his  life,  especially  the  part  he  played  during  what  the 
northern  people  called  "The  Rebellion."  I  call  it  "Where  the 
men  of  the  nation  were  defending  their  laws  and  rights."  I  have 
not  lived  down  my  feeling  toward  the  Yankees  yet. 

Now,  I  will  relate  to  you  wherein  this  Medium  and  I  played 
a  part  during  our  war  for  southern  rights.  I  frequently  visited 
my  father  in  the  field,  for  I  loved  him  very  dearly  and  he  loved 
me.  I  often  wished  if  I  only  could  have  been  a  man  that  I  might 
have  fought  against  the  north,  for  I  hated  them  from  the  depths 
of  my  soul.  During  one  of  my  visits  to  my  father  in  the  field, 
we  were  sitting  in  front  of  his  tent.  As  we  looked  toward  the 
east  we  saw  some  soldiers  coming  writh  a  little  girl.  They  brought 
her  up  in  front  of  father's  tent.  One  of  the  soldiers  stepped  for- 
ward and  saluting  father,  said,  "Golonel,  here  is  a  little  girl  and 
she  can  tell  fortunes,  and  tells  them  pretty  good,  too."  Father 
laughed,  and  said,  "She  looks  very  young  to  be  a  fortune  teller." 
Father  said  to  the  little  girl,  "Come  here  little  girl,  and  let  me 
look  at  you."  I  will  now  describe  her  as  she  looked.  She  had 
on  a  pretty  calico  frock  with  a  little  shawl  around  her  shoulders. 
Down  her  back  hung  a  long  braid  of  red  hair.  I  noticed  under 
her  bonnet  her  red  hair  was  frizzed  and  hung  over  her  forehead. 
She  had  on  an  orange  calico  bonnet.  Her  shoes  were  quite  broad 
and  such  as  the  negroes  wore.  Her  hands  were  very  small,  her 
mouth  pretty — so  pretty  that  I  wished  mine  had  been  like  it. 
She  had  what  I  call  "dancing  eyes."  On  one  of  her  arms  hung 
a  little  basket  in  which  was  plug  tobacco.  My  father  said,  "Little 
girl,  what  is  your  name?"  She  looked  up  at  him  with  those 
roguish  eyes,  saying,  "What  you  reckon?"  which  made  father  and 
a  Captain  Smith  burst  out  laughing.  I  discovered  then  she  had 
the  Georgia  dialect,  such  as  the  people  use  in  the  Highlands  of 
Georgia.  I  said  to  her.  "Won't  you  tell  me  your  name?"  She 
said.  "I  reckon."  She  said,  "Maw  called  me  Flossy,  but  paw  and 
my  brothers  they  all  calls  me  'Floss.'  "  I  said,  "Where  is  your 
home?"  She  said,  "I  reckon  it's  a  quite  smart  distance  from  here, 
back  in  Georgia."  I  said.  "Have  you  no  other  name  but  Flossy.-'" 
She  said,  "We  'uns  always  had  other  names."  I  said.  "Then, 
what  is  vour  full  name?'  She  said,  "It's  Flossv  Carrington." 


MRS.  PATTERSON  SHELDON  135 

Father  said,  "Why,  little  girl,  I  was  acquainted  with  Carrington's 
in  Georgia.  Which  of  the  families  do  you  come  from?"  She 
said,  "We'se  is  all  children  of  Pete  Carrington."  Father  said, 
"Why,  I  knew  Pete  Carrington  well.  I  stopped  at  his  plantation 
in  Georgia  for  over  a  month."  She  laughed  a  musical  laugh,  and 
said,  "I  reckon  how  you'se  all  would  know  him."  Father  then 
said,  "What  brings  you  here,  little  girl,  all  alone?"  She  said, 
"P>rother  Aleck  went  in  the  war  and  we'uns  is  all  troubled  about 
him,  hit  being  so  long  since  arey  one  of  us  heard  from  him.  I 
started  out  to  gin  some  information.  I  tell  fortunes  and  sells  to- 
baker  and  sometimes  I  sing  and  dances,  too.  Hit's  just  how  they 
pays."  I  said,  "Little  girl,  aren't  you  afraid  to  travel  alone?" 
She  said,  "Oh,  no,  maam,  the  boys  treat  me  good,  because  I  be- 
longs to  the  army  and  tells  their  fortunes.  Sometimes,  I  gets 
money — most  a-times  I  trusts.  Does  you  want  your  fortune?" 
I  laughed  and  said,  "Here  is  Captain  Smith,  no  doubt  he'd  like 
to  have  you  tell  his  fortune."  He  laughed  and  said,  "Miss  Clover, 
you  have  yours  told  first,  then  I'll  have  mine  told."  Father  said, 
"If  she  can  sing,  why  let  us  have  some  singing  first."  During 
this  conversation  she  remained  standing. 

Captain  Smith  entered  father's  tent,  brought  out  a  camp 
chair,  saying,  "Miss  Flossy,  w^on't  you  sit  down?"  When  he  had 
placed  the  chair  on  the  ground,  she  tripped  in  some  manner — 
I  cannot  tell  you  how,  but  fell  into  the  captain's  arms — she 
looked  up  into  his  eyes  and  I  noticed  he  wasn't  in  a  hurry  to  place 
her  in  the  chair.  lie  bent  over  and  kissed  her  on  the  mouth, 
which  was  the  cause  of  a  big  laugh.  After  he  had  kissed  her  he 
placed  her  in  the  chair,  still  holding'  one  of  her  hands.  Captain 
Smith  and  I  were  betrothed  to  each  other.  I  did  not  become 
jealous  then,  because  she  was  such  a  little  girl  and  had  such 
sweet  ways.  Captain  Smith  stepped  back  and  leaned  up  against 
the  pole  of  father's  tent.  She  commenced  to  sing,  and  I  won- 
dered where  that  powerful  voice  came  from.  She  sang  a  Scotch 
ballad,  "I'm  aye  young.  I'm  aye  young  to  marry  yet."  While 
she  was  singing-,  I  noticed  my  father  kept  looking  at  her  all  the 
time,  and  when  she  had  finished  singing  he  heaved  a  deep  and 
heavy  sigh.  I  went  immediately  to  his  side  and  said,  "Papa,  are 
you  ill?"  He  said.  "Oh.  no  dear;  I  am  happy  and  would  like  to 
hear  some  more  singing-."  She  sang  another  song,  in  which  she 


136         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

said,  "I  know  that  every  fleeting  hour  is  marked  with  songs  I 
sing  you  :  but  oh,  there'll  come  another  day — the  day  when  you'll 
forget  me."  She-  sang  it  with  so  much  feeling  that  my  father 
commenced  to  cry.  I  said  to  myself,  "God,  this  little  creature 
must  be  a  witch.  See  how  all  the  men  look  at  her  as  if  they  were 
petrified  and  could  not  move."  Captain  Smith  came  to  my  side 
as  I  stood  by  my  father.  He  said,  "Do  you  not  think,  Clover 
dear,  the  little  creature  sings  beautifully?" 

I  said,  "How  comes  it  when  she  sings  she  pronounces  her 
words  so  plain,  yet  when  she  talks  she  uses  the  Georgia  dialect? 
All  you  gentlemen  act  as  if  you  were  fascinated." 

By  this  time  a  number  of  officers  and  soldiers  had  come  di- 
rect to  my  father's  tent  and  were  standing  there  listening,  as  if 
under  some  hypnotic  spell.     I  began  to  feel  a  little  jealous  to 
think  that  this   common  little  ignorant   Georgia  girl   should   be 
the  center  of  attraction.     I  thought  I  would  break  the  spell  by 
saying,  "Xow.  we  will  test  her  abilities  as  a  fortune  teller."     I 
said,  "Come,  tell  papa's  fortune  first."     She  stepped  forward,  tak- 
ing papa's  big  hand  in  her  little  one  :  then  she  looked  into  his 
eyes   and  he   smiled   a   dreamy-like   smile,   I    would   call   it.      She 
said,  "Your  hand  tells  me  the  woman  you  married  gave  her  love 
to  another  man — your  brother."     My  father  trembled  in  such  a 
way  that  I  thought  he  would  fall  forward  on  to  the  ground.       I 
said.  "Quick,  Captain  Smith,  assist  me  to  take  him  into  the  tent." 
She  said  in  as  good  English  as  1  ever  heard  spoken,  "Xo,  let 
him  remain  where  lie  is:  he  shall  hear  it  to  the  end."    My  father 
then  straightened  up  and  seemed  to  be  a  changed  man.  He  raised 
his  arm  and  pushed  me  back — a  tiling  he  had  never  dene  in  his 
life,  and  said,  in  a  cold,  hollow  voice.  "Clover,  dear.  I  must  hear 
it   to   the   end."     Then   that   little   creature   smiled   a  triumphant 
smile  and  said,  ''This  young  ladv  is  not  your  child,  but  the  child 
of  your  brother  and   your  wife   was   her  mother.      She   will   not 
wed  this  Captain   Smith,  that   is  impossible:  tomorrow  will  tell 
the  tale."     All  of  a  sudden  she  broke  out  in  a  wild  Scotch  song. 
''My  heart's  in   the   Hielands  :   my  heart's  not  here."     She  sang 
the  song  to  the  end.      \Vhcn   she  had  finished   she   received   big 
applause.     Then    she   resumed   the    Georgia   dialect,   and   bowing 
to  us  like  a  princess  in  peasant  attire,  she  said,  "You  all  must  let 
me  go  now.     I  must  look  for  brother  Aleck."    As  she  was  about 


MRS.  PATTERSON  SHELDON  137 

to  depart  my  father  caught  her  in  his  arms,  saying,  "I  cannot  let 
you  go,  child.  You  must  stay  here  a  day  or  two,  then  go  back 
home  with  Clover  and  become  her  companion."  I  looked  at  my 
father  and  said,  "Papa,  is  this  true  what  the  creature  has  said?" 
He  looked  at  me  while  his  lips  quivered.  He  said,  "Clover,  dear, 
it  is  true  what  she  has  just  said.  I  am  not  your  father.  My 
brother  Charles  was  your  father.  When  I  discovered  the  truth 
I  killed  him  and  your  mother.  Their  skeletons  lay  at  the  bottom 
of  the  river  with  big  weights  attached  to  them.  I  had  you  edu- 
cated and  taught  you  I  was  your  father." 

Just  then  an  old  negro  that  father  had  cook  for  him  came 
and  fell  on  his  knees  in  front  of  mev  saying,  "Oh,  Miss  Clover,  he 
done  make  me  do  it."  That  is  the  last  I  knew  for  several  days 
as  I  had  fainted.  That  night  my  father  was  robbed  of  some  valu- 
able papers. 

Captain  Smith,  to  whom  I  was  betrothed,  was  found  dead 
in  the  woods  with  a  bullet  hole  in  his  breast.  He  held  in  his 
hand  a  piece  of  calico  belonging  to  that  girl's  dress.  The  men 
who  found  him  said  they  could  see  there  had  been  a  struggle, 
as  the  bushes  around  where  he  lay  some  of  them  were  broken  off, 
everything  of  value  had  been  taken  from  his  pockets.  His  sword 
and  belt  were  gone.  When  they  lifted  him  from  the  ground  they 
found  under  his  bod}-  a  hurriedly  written  note,  written  with  a 
pencil  on  a  piece  of  brown  paper  in  which  he  declared  his  love 
for  that  miserable  creature,  Flossy  Carrington.  Three  days  after- 
ward a  battle  took  place  in  which  my  father  received  a  mortal 
wound  from  which  he  died  two  days  afterward.  The}'  carried 
me  to  where  he  lay  dying.  He  took  hold  of  my  hand,  placed  it 
over  his  heart  .saying,  "Clover,  darling.  I  am  only  your  uncle — 
the  brother  of  your  father  and  the  husband  of  your  mother — 'but 
promise  me  one  thing  that  you  will  hunt  down  that  witch. 
She  is  an  evil  genius  who  reads  the  minds  of  men.  (  >n  the  night 
that  she  robbed  me,  after  you  had  returned  to  your  tent,  she 
came  into  my  tent,  sat  on  my  lap.  kissed  me  and  made  love  to 
me.  She  hail  promised  to  marrv  me  and  said  she  would  always 
live  with  me.  Next  day  we  were  to  be  married  by  the  army 
chaplain.  That  night,  while  1  held  her  in  mv  arms  and  she 
was  singing  a  low.  sweet  lullaby,  >he  drugged  me  and  I  went  into 
a  dee])  sleep.  She  took  out  of  her  petticoat  a  flat  tlask  ot  brandv  ; 


138         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

she  told  me  how  much  she  loved  me — the  she  devil.  She  asked 
me  to  drink  to  our  happy  future,  and  then  she  would  drink  after 
me.  She  said,  'Xow,  Colonel,  take  a  big  drink,  for  this  is  fine 
liquor,  and  tell  me  how  much  you  love  me.'  Clover,  dear,  in  five 
minutes  1  knew  nothing  more ;  then  she  robbed  me  and  must  have 
had  Captain  Smith  accompany  her.  That  is  the  only  way  I  can  ac- 
count for  it.  dear.  Oh,  God !  Clover,  but  she  was  pretty  and  I 
was  thinking  what  kind  of  a  beautiful  ring  I  would  place  upon 
that  little  finger.  I  thought  one  time  I  would  give  her  your 
mother's  diamond  ring,  then  I  thought,  Oh,  no ;  she  is  too  in- 
nocent and  pure  for  that,  but  think  of  it,  Clover,  dear.  She  was 
a  she  devil  out  of  hell.  Promise  me  that  when  you  get  strong 
you  will  hunt  her  down  and  kill  her,  for  I  feel  that  I  am  only  one 
of  her  victims."  I  promised  him  and  he  passed  from  his  body 
holding  my  hand.  Death  had  robbed  me  of  my  husband  that  was 
to  be  and  had  taken  from  me  the  only  parent  I  ever  knew  and 
loved.  I  prayed  night  and  day  that  God  might  give  me  strength 
and  health  in  order  that  I  might  hunt  down  that  wretched  crea- 
ture and  kill  her. 

In  time  I  gained  both  health  and  strength.  I  thought  I 
would  assume  male  disguise,  enter  the  northern  lines  and  search 
for  my  victim.  One  day  as  I  was  riding  towards  the  northern 
lines  a  mulatto  girl  came  out  of  the  woods,  crying.  I  asked  her 
what  was  the  matter.  She  said  she  had  lost  her  way.  I  said, 
"\Yhere  do  you  belong?  She  said,  "I  belong  to  Massa  Ripley. 
what's  done  killed  in  the  war.  I  told  her  I  was  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Ripley  family.  ''How  comes  it  that  you  are  so 
far  away  from  home?"  She  said  she  was  trying  to  find  Massa 
Henry's  place  what  married  Miss  Sarah  Ripley ;  then  she  gave  a 
loud  laugh,  saying,  "Bless  my  soul,  ain't  you  Miss  Clover,  what 
belonged  at  the  Patterson  place?"  I  said  I  was  Miss  Patterson. 
She  said,  "Y\  hat  are  you  doing  in  dese  yar  kind  of  clothes  coflutin 
around  the  kintry?"  She  said,  "You  jest  git  oft"  that  yar  horse 
and  rest  yourself  a  spell.  I'll  take  yer  horse  to  de  branch  and 
give  it  some  water;  den  I'll  come  back  and  show  you  de  shortest 
way  to  fie  Yankees.  Deys  quite  pert  boys,  dey  is."  I  said,  "So, 
then,  you  have  met  some  of  the  Yankees?"  She  said.  "Oh.  yes. 
indeed.  Miss  Clover."  She  said.  "You  sit  down  dar  under  dis 
big  tree  and  git  your  lunch  out  and  when  I  come  back  wid  de 


MRS.  PATTERSON  SHELDON  139 

horse  you  can  guv  me  what's  left."  She  went  off  with  the  horse 
and  that  was  the  last  I  ever  saw  of  the  horse  or  her.  So  you  can 
imagine  what  a  predicament  I  was  left  in. 

I  remained  there  until  it  commenced  to  get  dark,  wondering 
what  had  become  of  her,  and  while  I  was  thinking  over  the  con- 
dition that  I  was  left  in  I  went  to  sleep.  I  woke  up  in  the  morn- 
ing with  the  sun  shining  in  my  face.  After  I  sat  up  and  com- 
menced to  think  on  how  I  had  been  deceived,  I  stepped  out  on  the 
road,  walking  along  hoping  to  find  some  house  near  by.  A  car- 
riage came  along  with  an  old  lady  and  gentleman  and  a  negro 
driving.  I  hailed  them  and  asked  for  permission  to  ride  on  the 
same  seat  with  the  negro — thinking  it  would  not  look  out  of 
place,  I  being  dressed  as  a  boy.  They  invited  me  to  enter  their 
carriage  and  ride  with  them.  During  the  conversation  I  made  the 
discovery  that  the  lady  at  one  time  had  been  a  Miss  Emily  Pla- 
cide.  I  told  her  my  mother  had  been  a  Placide.  She  laughed 
and  said,  "Bless  your  heart,  your  mother  was  my  cousin,  Jennie 
Placide.  They  were  on  their  way  to  make  a  visit  to  the  brother 
of  the  old  gentleman,  whose  name  was  \Yilliam  Partington,  and 
hailed  from  the  Partington  family  of  Richmond,  Va.,  but  was 
now  living  at  Fayetteville.  I  went  to  their  home  and  gave  the 
idea  and  condition  of  my  errand  that  would  bring  me  inside  of 
the  Yankee  lines.  They  tried  to  prevail  upon  me  not  to  do  so, 
as  I  ran  the  risk  of  being  arrested  for  a  spy  and  naturally  would 
be  shot. 

( )n  the  fifth  day  after  I  had  reached  the  Partington  home, 
news  came  by  a  soldier  that  a  little  boy,  a  sweet  singer,  had  en- 
tered the  camp  of  Colonel  Frazier,  and  was  giving  them  news 
about  General  Grant's  headquarters,  and  how  they  could  sur- 
round it  and  capture  him.  Colonel  Frazier  was  so  elated  over 
the  news  that  he  went  in  person  with  the  little  boy  to  the  Gen- 
eral's headquarters.  There  the  little  boy  described  how  a  force, 
could  surround  General  Grant  and  capture  him.  The  same  even- 
ing that  they  received  the  news  at  the  Partington  home  there 
was  to  be  a  wedding  to  take  place  at  eight  o'clock  that  evening. 
They  prevailed  upon  me  to  throw  off  my  disguise  and  dress  as  a 
young  lady.  1  did  so,  Sallv  Partington  lending  me  some  of  her 
wanin  >be. 

[ust  before  Klw«io<l  Partington  ami  Mabel  Young  were  about 


140         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

to  be  married,  the  General,  Colonel  Frazier  and  the  boy  arrived 
at  the  Partington  home  to  be  present  at  the  wedding.  After  the 
ceremonies  were  over,  dancing  was  the  order  of  the  evening,  in 
which  many  of  the  young  people  took  part.  During  the  dancing 
the  General,  the  Colonel,  the  boy  and  the  Partington  men  were 
closeted  in  a  room  upstairs  and  the  door  was  locked,  to  keep  any- 
one from  entering  while  the  boy  gave  a  description  how  they 
could  capture  General  Grant. 

Before  the  marriage  ceremony  took  place  many  of  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  conversed  with  the  little  boy,  who  was  quite 
pretty  and  had  blonde,  curly  hair.  I  noticed  while  in  the  draw- 
ing room  the  General  had  the  boy  stand  alongside  of  him,  while 
he — the  General — had  his  arms  around  the  boy's  waist.  I  thought 
how  much  those  eyes  looked  like  that  she  devil's  who  came  to  my 
father's  tent  and  told  fortunes.  Immediately  after  the  couple 
were  pronounced  man  and  wife  the  men  went  right  away  to  the 
room  where  they  were  closeted  upstairs.  The  boy  said  his  name 
was  Joseph  Perkins,  and  that  he  belonged  to  the  Perkins  family 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

It  seems  after  the  boy  had  given  them  all  the  information 
which  they  thought  was  true,  the  General  took  a  paper  out  of 
his  pocket.  Mr.  Partington  said,  "Open  it  and  place  it  on  a  table." 
It  was  a  plan  drawn  up  whereby  they  were  to  set  all  the  hotels  in 
Washington  on  fire.  YYhen  the  fire  was  at  its  height  and  there 
was  a  great  commotion  in  the  city  part  of  Lee's  army  was  to  en- 
ter AYashington  and  capture  it  and  burn  down  all  the  public 
buildings  in  the  city  if  possible.  Mr.  Partington  said  the  Gen- 
eral told  him  how  much  he  thought  of  the  little  boy  and  he  was 
going  to  have  him  live  with  him.  Mr.  Partington  said  the  Gen- 
eral lifted  the  little  boy  up  on  to  his  lap,  hugged  and  kissed  him, 
saying,  "Isn't  that  so,  pet?"  Mr.  Partington  said  the  boy  acted 
more  like  a  girl  than  a  boy.  He  placed  his  hands  inside  the  Gen- 
eral's vest  and  nestled  his  head  on  his  breast.  The  General  said. 
"I'm  happy  now,  Partington.  I  always  wanted  something  to 
love;  I  have  found  it  in  this  little  boy."  Me  said.  "Get  up,  pet. 
put  your  arms  around  my  neck  and  tell  the  gentlemen  how  much 
you  think  of  me,  for  you  know  I  am  to  be  your  father  now." 
Mr.  Partington  said  the  boy  hugged  the  General  around  the 
neck,  kissed  him  several  times  on  the  mouth,  when  the  General 


MRS.  PATTERSON  SHELDON  141 

said,  "Gentlemen,  those  are  sweet  kisses."  Then  the  General 
said,  ""Now,  pet,  kiss  each  of  the  gentlemen,  and  show  them 
how  sweet  your  kisses  are."  Then  the  gentlemen  came  down 
stairs  and  mingled  with  the  visitors  present. 

They  passed  around  currant  wine  and  whiskey,  of  which  the 
gentlemen  drank  freely.  I  noticed  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  General  and  the  little  boy  were  not  among  the  com- 
pany. I  asked  Mrs.  Partington  if  she  knew  where  the  General 
and  the  little  boy  were?  She  said  the  General  had  been  drinking 
quite  freely  and  thought  he'd  go  upstairs  and  lie  clown  for  a  little 
while,  taking  the  boy  with  him.  She  said  when  she  passed  the 
door  the  boy  was  singing  a  low,  sweet  lullaby  to  the  General, 
"And,  oh.  Miss  Patterson,  he  can  sing  so  sweet  and  the  General 
must  love  him  very  much.  He  was  holding  the  boy  in  his  arms 
while  he  sang,  the  boy  was  running  his  fingers  through  the  Gen- 
eral's beard  and  happiness  was  personified  on  the  Gen- 
eral's countenance.  As  you  know.  Miss  Patterson,  the  General's 
wedded  life  was  an  unhappy  one  ;  but  now  I  think  his  happiness 
is  complete  in  the  love  for  that  boy.  P>ut,  Oh,  how  strange  it  all 
seems  in  so  short  a  time  to  think  how  the  -boy  could  find  the 
General's  heart." 

Well,  sir,  the  General  went  to  sleep.  The  boy  robbed  him 
of  all  the  papers  he  had  on  his  person,  besides  taking  manv  of 
Mr.  Partington's  valuable  papers.  He  entered  my  room,  dressed 
himself  in  my  boy's  clothes  and  escaped  from  the  house  in  some 
way  unnoticed,  stole  the  General's  horse,  unloosened  the  Colonel's 
horse,  also  three  other  horses  that  were  in  the  stable,  mounted 
and  rode  off.  Xext  morning  the  other  horses  were  found  about 
a  mile  from  the  home.  We  could  not  arouse  the  General  until 
nine  o'clock  next  evening  for  the  bov  had  chloroformed  him. 
The  General  was  so  smitten  with  the  boy  that  he  said  if  some 
one  could  capture  him  and  bring  him  back  lie  would  forgive  him 
for  what  he  had  done.  He  was  a  little  hero  and  had  done  it  for 
the  love  ot  his  country.  Xothing  could  ever  cool  the  love  he 
bore  him.  he  had  discovered  his  condition.  lie  was  more  girl 
than  boy  and  he  would  love  that  Kittle  (  me  while  memory  lasted. 
"I  wish  to  God.  the  south  had  manv  such  little  heroes  like  that." 

Possibly,  sir.  you  remember  when  they  tried  to  set  fire  to 
the  hotels  but  were  prevented  from  doing  much  harm.  Th'»e 


142        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

papers  had  reached  President  Lincoln's  hands.  I  was  determined 
to  hunt  down  that  she  devil  that  had  ruined  my  father  and  shot 
down  the  dearest  one  I  loved  on  earth  to  whom  I  was  betrothed. 
One  month  from  the  night  of  the  wedding  I  reached  the 
Yankee  lines  in  boy's  clothing,  but  it  seemed  to  be  my  fate  that 
I  never  was  to  reach  that  she  devil.  As  I  was  riding  along,  in- 
tending to  reach  the  home  of  Mr.  Sheldon  before  morning,  I  was 
accosted  by  a  freckle-faced  girl  with  red  hair,  and  she  must  have 
had  as  many  as  eighteen  or  twenty  strings  of  beads  around  her 
neck.  Some  of  them  were  large  blue  ones 'and  others  of  amber 
color.  She  stepped  out  into  the  road  in  front  of  my  horse  and 
commenced  to  do  a  quiet  kind  of  a  dance.  She  whooped  and  hol- 
lered so  my  horse  became  frightened  and  threw  me  to  the  ground. 
She  gave  the  horse  a  kick  and  he  went  off  flying  toward  the 
Yankee  lines — for  I  will  not  call  them  Union  lines.  She  stooped 
down  where  I  lay  bleeding.  She  disarmed  me,  taking  both  my 
pistols  from  me.  She  placed  my  head  on  her  lap,  for  I  was  very 
weak,  saying,  "Miss  Patterson,  I  know  who  you  are.  You  are 
seeking  my  life.  I  will  let  you  remain  here  while  I  go  and  find 
some  negroes  to  carry  you  to  their  cabin.  Y\  hen  you  are  fully 
recovered  return  to  your  home,  for  if  ever  again  you  attempt  to 
find  me,  when  we  meet  I  will  fill  you  with  lead  and  leave  you  in 
the  woods  for  the  vultures  to  pick  the  flesh  from  your  bones.  I 
am  a  servant  of  the  spirit  world  and  must  assist  in  putting  down 
this  rebellion.  It  was  not  I  who  told  your  father  whose  child 
you  were,  but  the  influence  whose  commands  I  obey."  She  drew 
a  flask  out  of  her  pocket,  saying,  "Drink  some  of  this,  it  will  allay 
your  pain  for  awhile.  I  swallowed  some  of  the  contents  and 
-.vent  to  sleep,  forgetting  all  about  my  pain.  When  I  came  back 
to  consciousness  I  discovered  I  was  in  a  negro  cabin.  They  had 
bound  up  my  arm  for  it  was  broken  in  the  fall.  I  asked  them 
if  there  was  no  doctor  in  the  neighborhood.  An  old  negrcss  told 
me  they  had  sent  word  to  one  and  maybe  he  would  get  there  that 
night,  lie  came,  set  my  arm  by  the  firelight  from  the  fireplace, 
that  the  negroes  had  made  up  for  the  purpose.  He  put  splinters 
on  my  arm  and  bandaged  it  up.  after  which  he  asked  me  who  I 
was  and  what  1  was  doing  there.  I  told  him  what  I  have  told 
you.  He  said.  "It  seems  impossible  for  the  southern  army  to 
catch  that  little  wretch  :  lie  assumes  so  many  disguises  and  can 


MRS.  PATTERSON  SHELDON  143 

sing  like  a  nightingale.  He  has  a  way  of  getting  around  our 
officers  that  I  believe  he  is  a  witch  of  the  most  malignant  type. 
They'll  get  him  some  day,  and  when  they  do  they'll  hang  him  up 
to  dry  in  the  air,  like  a  Delaware  shad,"  which  made  me  laugh, 
at  the  same  time  I  was  suffering  a  great  deal  of  pain.  He  had 
the  negroes  hitch  up  next  day  and  take  me  to  the  Sheldon  home. 
When  I  had  got  to  resting  comfortably  and  my  pain  had  eased 
up  some  I  told  them  my  story.  After  I  had  finished,  the  old 
lady  Sheldon  said,  "That  crazy  girl  was  here  yesterday  and  she 
wanted  to  tell  fortunes.  We  allowed  her  something  to  eat  and 
prepared  a  lunch  for  her  to  take  on  the  way.  \Yhile  here,  she 
must  have  fascinated  our  Edward.  We  haven't  seen  him  since, 
and  both  the  saddle  horses  are  gone  with  the  saddles."  Two 
days  afterwards  Edward  came  back  a  sorry  looking  young  man. 
He  told  us  how  she  had  fascinated  him.  asked  him  if  they  had 
any  saddle  horses  on  the  place.  He  said  there  were  two.  She 
told  him  to  go  and  get  them  and  they  would  take  a  ride  for  she 
had  lots  to  tell  him.  They  struck  off  the  main  road  in  through 
a  piece  of  timber,  where  she  told  him  many  fascinating  stories. 
She  fascinated  him  so  that  he  asked  her  to  become  his  wife.  She 
sang  for  him  in  the  woods  and  lured  him  on  so  that  night  came 
on  almost  before  he  knew  it. 

When  it  was  getting  quite  dark  they  came  near  to  a  stream 
of  water.  He  said  she  took  a  flask  out  of  her  pocket  and  taking 
the  cup  off  the  bottom  part  she  requested  him  to  dismount  and 
go  and  get  her  a  drink  of  water.  He  said,  "Mother,  I  tell  you  I 
would  go  through  hell  for  her."  He  went  to  the  stream  to  get 
her  the  drink  of  water.  When  he  returned  she  and  both  the 
horses  were  gone.  "You  see,  I  have  had  to  walk  home."  he  said, 
at  the  same  time  placing  the  cup  on  the  table.  1  groaned,  and 
said,  "Oh,  God,  another  victim." 

He  said.  "Mother.  I  have  come  to  bid  you  all  good  bve  and 
rest  one  night  more  under  my  grandfather's  roof.  Tomorrow  I 
start  for  the  Union  lines.  I  will  enlist  in  the  I'nion  army,  for 
there  I  know  I  shall  find  my  sweetheart  somewhere.  The  poor 
old  grandfather  said,  "God  pity  us:  to  think  one  of  my  descend- 
ants should  become  an  enemy  to  his  country  and  to  his  father's 
house."  He  said,  "l>oy.  if  vou  will  go.  mv  curse  will  go  with 
you."  Edward's  eyes  flashed  and  he  said.  "1  care  not  for  all  the 
curses  of  Heaven  or  hell.  1  am  sj'oinsjf  to  ir.v  sweetheart." 


144         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

He  told  me  after\vards  that  he  enlisted  in  a  northern  regi- 
ment. I  think  he  said  it  was  the  Fourth  Xew  York.  He  was 
wounded  near  Lynchburg  and  taken  to  a  hospital.  After  a  little 
while,  along  came  one  of  the  doctors  and  a  little  boy  who  was 
singing,  ^'hen  they  came  to  where  Edward  was  lying  he  held 
out  his  arms  and  said,  "Please  stop  and  sing  for  me."  They 
stopped ;  the  boy  sang  the  same  song  that  she  had  sung  for  him 
in  the  woods,  "\\~hen  the  shadows  come  and  go."  Edward  said 
he  cried  out,  "Oh,  God  in  Heaven  !  Sweet  one  don't  you  know 
me?  You  are  looking  for  me  'aint  you?  That's  why  you  have 
boy's  clothes  on?"  He  said  she  laughed  and  told  him  he  must  be 
mad  she  had  never  seen  him  before  in  her  life.  She  said  to  the 
doctor,  "Come,  let  us  go;  you'll  have  to  put  that  fellow  in  a 
straight  jacket  before  long."  Edward  said  his  heart  sank  and  he 
became  delirious. 

The  nurse  told  him  he'd  been  out  of  his  head  for  several 
days.  Y\  hen  his  wound  healed  and  he  became  stronger  he  came 
back  to  his  father's  home  looking  like  a  skeleton.  \Ye  nursed 
him  and  he  gained  in  flesh  ;  but  he  never  was  the  handsome  Ed- 
ward of  old.  He  said  he  lost  all  faith  in  women  ;  but  I  brought 
him  out  of  that  condition,  by  showing  to  him  that  all  women  were 
not  alike.  \Ve  were  married.  He  entered  the  army  of  the  south 
and  when  the  war  closed  he  wore  on  his  shoulders  on  indication 
of  a  colonelship.  Our  first  baby  was  a  girl  and  he  named  her 
Lucy,  after  his  first  sweetheart  that  had  wrecked  his  life  for 
quite  a  time.  That  is  the  name  he  said  she  gave  him. 

Our  individual  and  several  other  individuals  that  I  de- 
scribed was  this  Medium  that  1  now  control.  I  hope  they  are 
satisfied  with  my  communication.  I  leave  no  love  for  him  or 
her.  if  you  choose  to  call  this  creature  so.  She  wrecked  four  lives 
oi  those  dear  to  me — my  foster  father,  the  one  to  whom  I  was 
betrothed,  the  one  I  married  and  myself.  May  God  have  mercy 
on  her  soul.  Edward,  my  husband,  says  she  did  it  all  for  the 
love  01  her  country,  and  1  must  learn  to  forgive  her. 

<  Hir  country  was  the  conquered  country.  1  suppose  yours 
was  right,  while  ours  was  the  "Lost  Cause."  I  hate  that  name. 
"\  ankee." 

Put  me  down  as  Mrs.   Patterson  Sheldon.     Good  dav. 


Sada-  -The  Lone  One 

Chapter    VIII 


Sunday,  December  7,  1902. 

Good  morning,  friend.  When  I  lived  in  the  physical  body 
they  called  me  "Sada,  the  lone  one."  My  other  name  I  do  not 
know.  I  never  heard  it  spoken  by  anyone.  I  came  here  to  Search- 
light Bower  in  company  with  a  beautiful  spirit  who  bore  the 
name  of  Julia  Hawthorne  when  living  in  the  physical  body. 
Why  they  called  me  "Sada,  the  lone  one,"  was  I  liked  to  go  off 
and  sit  by  myself  alone.  The  children  who  lived  in  a  vile  den 
called  me  that  name. 

I  was  born  in  the  Five  Points,  New  York,  and  lived  with 
my  parents  in  an  old  house  that  was  about  to  tumble  down.  My 
parents  were  low,  degraded  drunkards.  My  father  was  a  villain 
of  the  lowest  type  and  I  remember  twice  where  he  murdered  a 
man  each  time.  I  saw  him  choke  a  woman  to  death  because  she 
would  not  submit  to  his  licentious  designs.  My  mother  became 
a  low  bestial  woman,  a  drunkard  and  harlot  of  the  worst  type. 
Xo  doubt  in  her  girlhood  days  she  was  fair  to  look  upon.  As  I 
remember  at  five  years  of  age,  I  think,  she  had  some  of  the  traces 
or  features  of  a  faded  beauty.  She  sank  so  low  in  crime  and  li- 
centiousness that  all  shame  had  left  her.  Sometimes  my  father 
would  beat  her  so  in  the  face  and  take  the  money  from  her  that 
she  had  earned  through  her  degraded  nature,  her  face  would  be- 
come swollen  and  bloated  so  that  all  semblance  and  recognition 
of  a  human  being  seemed  to  have  tied  and  left  her  a  mass  of  un- 
recognizable human  flesh.  They  both  were  hnallv  arrested,  tried 
and  convicted  for  the  murder  of  a  policeman.  They  were  sent 
to  state's  prison  for  life,  so  I  never  looked  upon  them  again  either 
in  the  body  or  out  of  it. 

An  old  Irishwoman  who  lived  in  a  cellar  in  the  Five  Points 
took  me  to  live  with  her.  She  said  she  would  bring  me  up  and 


146        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

make  me  a  smart  girl.  She  had  five  other  children  living  with 
her  in  the  cellar  who  came  into  the  earth  world  or  physical 
planet  much  in  the  same  way  that  I  did. 

When 'I  became  about  six  years  old  she  had  two  of  the  eldest, 
children  teach  me  how  to  pick  pockets  and  purloin  other  things 
that  did  not  belong  to  me.  She  would  stand  in  the  middle  of  the 
cellar  and  we  would  practice  on  her.  When  any  of  the  children 
became  smart  in  the  art  they  were  sent  into  the  streets  to  prac- 
tice their  trade  among  the  different  crowds  of  people.  I  never 
became  smart  in  the  art  for  I  did  not  want  to,  therefore  I  never 
picked  any  pockets  in  the  street.  She  sent  me  around  to  peddle 
apples,  popcorn  and  toothpicks.  I  did  the  best  trade  in  buildings 
where  the  rooms  were  rented  out  as  offices.  When  I  would  re- 
turn home  at  night  I  would  pass  the  money  over  to  her,  then  go 
and  sit  down  by  myself.  That  is  why  they  called  me  "Sada,  the 
lone  one." 

There  was  a  boy,  I  should  judge  about  twelve  years  of  age. 
They  designated  him  as  the  "booby."  He  never  was  smart  at 
picking  pockets :  but  I  discovered  he  had  a  mind  superior  to  any 
one  in  the  cellar.  While  I  would  go  the  rounds  selling  the  ap- 
ples, popcorn  and  toothpicks,  this  boy,  whose  name  was  Joseph, 
would  meet  me  and  we  would  sit  down  on  the  steps  somewheres 
and  talk  about  our  unfortunate  life.  One  day  he  said,  "I  am  go- 
ing to  look  for  work  and  become  an  honest  boy.  When  I  find 
work  I'm  going  to  take  you  away  from  that  wretched  place.  Sada. 
I  will  try  and  find  a  home  for  you  and  me  with  some  good  widow 
woman.  You  can  help  her  in  the  house  while  I  go  out  to  work 
and  earn  some  money.  When  you  have  the  time  you  can  go 
around  and  sell  some  apples,  popcorn  and  cookies  for  yourself.'" 
Oh.  1  thought  how  grand  it  all  would  be,  and  we  would  sit  there 
and  build  castles  in  the  air  and  talk  of  the  future,  then  he'd  go 
away  and  I'd  go  the  rounds  selling  my  apples. 

When  I  was  twelve  years  old,  one  day  I  returned  from  peddl- 
ing. T  found  a  man  in  the  cellar  talking  to  the  old  Irish  hag.  As 
1  entered  the  cellar  I  heard  her  say  to  the  man.  "Here  she  comes 
now.  She's  a  pretty  piece  and  cheap  at  thirty."  When  I  laid  my 
basket  down  and  handed  the  money  to  her  I  noticed  she  was 
very  affectionate  to  me.  She  called  me  her  dear  girl.  That  was 
something  she  had  never  done  before.  She  laughed,  saying. 


SADA— THE  LONE  ONE  147 

"Here's  a  gentleman  that  wants  to  become  a  friend  to  you." 
The  man  sat  clown  on  an  old  rocking  chair,  saying  at  the  same 
time,  "Come  here,  my  dear,  and  sit  on  my  lap.  I  want  to  tell  you 
about  the  pretty  things  I  am  going  to  buy  you."  While  he  was 
talking  to  me  I  went  away  to  the  other  side  of  the  cellar.  I  had 
hardly  done  so  when  my  friend  Joe  entered  the  cellar.  The  old 
hag  ordered  him  out,  cursing  and  swearing  at  him  for  a  low 
thief  of  the  worst  kind.  He  said  he  would  not  go.  She  said  she 
would  show  him  whether  he  would  or  not.  As  she  went  to  one 
corner  of  the  cellar  he  slipped  down  behind  two  barrels  that  had 
a  box  on  top  of  them.  When  she  returned  and  saw  he  was  not 
there  she  said,  "Faith,  and  it's  well  for  him  that  he  left  or  I'd 
brained  him,  the  dirty  spalpane."  She  turned  to  me  and  said, 
"Now,  my  pretty  girl,  you  go  and  sit  on  the  gentleman's  lap,  or 
I'll  know  the  rason  why."  I  told  her  I  would  not  do  it.  She 
said,  "Then,  begorry  I'll  make  you,  for  I'm  the  law  here."  I  told 
her  my  will  was  stronger  than  her  law,  I  would  not  do.  it.  She 
said,  "Is  it  the  likes  of  you  that  will  be  telling  me  that?"  She 
caught  me  by  the  arm  and  dragged  me  towards  the  man,  saying, 
"Sure  and  it's  not  meself  that  will  be  after  losing  thirty  dollars 
for  such  a  thing  as  ye  are."  I  found  she  had  sold  my  virtue  for 
thirty  dollars. 

The  man  and  she  were  carrying  me  to  a  bed.  I  screamed  and 
kicked  with  all  my  might.  Joe  came  from  out  behind  the  bar- 
rels, wrenched  the  axe  from  out  of  the  old  hag's  hand,  striking 
her  on  the  back  of  the  neck  with  the  axe  almost  severing  her  head 
from  her  body.  Then  he  struck  the  man  right  in  the  middle  of 
the  back  and  broke  his  spine.  After  that  he  went  through  all 
his  pockets,  took  all  his  money  and  valuables,  watch  and  chain, 
which  were  very  fine — he  being  a  high-toned  gambler.  He  pur- 
chased apples  from  me  many  a  time  when  I  was  not  able  to  sell 
them.  Joe  went  to  an  inside  pocket  that  the  old  woman  had  fast- 
ened to  a  black  petticoat  that  she  always  wore  night  and  day. 
In  that  pocket  he  found  over  four  hundred  dollars. 

After  placing  all  the  monev  in  his  inside  coat  pocket  we  fled 
from  the  place,  crossed  over  to  Jersey,  bought  two  tickets  for 
Washington,  D.  C.,  and  from  there  we  took  .as  it  were,  an  old 
negro  and  a  mule  to  convey  us  toward  Lvnchburg.  Virginia.  At 
first  the  old  negro  was  not  willing  to  go.  ]oe  then  threatened 


148         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

him,  saying,  he  would  bring  terrible  vengeance  on  him  if  he  did 
not  convey  us  toward  Lynchburg.  The  negro  consented  and 
Joe  at  the  end  of  the  journey  paid  him  well  for  his  trouble. 

After  that  we  entered  Lynchburg  on  foot,  remaining  there 
twenty-four  hours,  after  which  we  set  out  towards  Cincinnatti. 
After  we  arrived  in  Cincinnatti  we  rented  a  cheap  room.  I  re- 
mained there  while  Joe  procured  a  position  as  a  bell  boy  in  the 
Walnut  Street  House.  I  attended  the  public  school  and  in  a  few 
years  became  something  of  a  scholar.  Joe  searched  the  back 
dates  of  the  newspapers  and  discovered  that  it  referred  to  the 
terrible  tragedy  that  took  place  in  a  cellar  in  that  horrible  part 
of  the  city  called  the  Five  Points.  When  they  found  the  man  he 
was  not  dead  yet.  They  removed  him  to  New  York  Hospital.  A 
minister  of  the  gospel  and  a  physician  told  him  he  was  dying; 
then  he  revealed  his  true  identity  and  his  correct  name.  He  tolcl 
the  minister  that  the  boy  who  struck  him  with  the  axe  was  his 
son.  He.  recognized  the  boy  when  he  entered  the  cellar,  and  I 
thought  while  looking  at  the  man  how  much  his  face  looked  like 
Joe's. 

The  gambler  did  not  die,  as  they  expected,  but  lived  to  be  a 
cripple  for  life.  After  Joe  had  been  a  bell  boy  at  the  hotel.  (But, 
allow  me  to  say,  before  I  go  any  further,  the  other  children  that 
lived  in  the  cellar  were  taken  to  Randall's  Island,  so  the  paper 
said.)  Joseph  procured  a  better  position  which  allowed  him  to 
go  to  night  school  in  order  to  get  some  education.  When  he  left 
the  hotel  we  rented  another  room  in  the  same  house  where  I  was 
stopping  and  he  came  home  to  live. 

AVhen  Joe  was  the  age  of  eighteen  and  I  was  sixteen  a  kind 
minister  consented  to  marry  us.  I  became  the  mother  of  eight 
children.  Joseph  let  his  beard  and  mustache  grow  and  never  was 
recognized.  AYe  lived  a  happy  life.  He  finally  opened  a  large 
billiard  hall  on  Fourth  street.  Cincinnatti.  By  a  letter  he  took 
from  his  father's  pockets  he  discovered  whom  his  mother  was. 
She  was  demanding  more  money  from  his  father  to  support 
herself  and  child.  She  said  she  had  placed  the  child  in  a  boarding 
school  in  Morrisiana.  The  vile  wretch  had  sold  the  child  to  the 
old  Irish  hag.  who  brought  him  up  to  pick  pockets.  His  mother 
was  Mademoiselle  Stella  of  Barnum's  Museum.  His  father's 
name  I  will  not  give  as  mv  children  bear  the  same  name.  When 


SADA— THE  LONE  ONE  149 

Joseph  had  made  the  discovery  who  his  father  was,  he  took  the 
same  name,  as  his  father  came  from  a  highly  respectable  family 
in  New  York.  I  will  give  you  his  father's  first  name.  It  was  Al- 
exander and  the  first  two  letters  of  his  last  name  R-i.  Possibly 
some  of  the  readers  of  this  communication  will  recognize  the 
family  name  by  the  first  two  letters  of  the  last  name. 

My  husband  became  a  wealthy  man  and  passed  out  of  his 
body  at  the  age  of  sixty-four.  I  passed  away  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
nine.  My  sons  and  daughters  all  married  well  and  have  happy 
homes.  One  of  my  daughters  became  a  prominent  literary 
woman.  Her  literary  works  were  published  under  a  nom  de 
plume. 

Now,  I  will  relate  to  you  that  part  of  my  communication 
that  brought  me  here  today.  It  is  the  desire  of  Julia  Hawthorne 
that  I  should  relate  to  you  an  occurrence  that  took  place  in  the 
Five  Points,  New  York — or,  perhaps,  I  should  say,  a  condition 
that  was  put  into  action  and  actually  took  place  while  I  lived 
in  the  Five  Points. 

One  Sunday  morning  a  pretty  little  boy  strolled  into  the 
Five  Points,  rather  richly  clad — more  so  than  we  were  in  the 
habit  of  seeing  there,  for  most  of  the  children  in  the  Five  Points 
were  dirty  and  ragged.  The  little  child  stood  on  the  corner  of 
the  street,  saying  to  the  people,  as  they  passed  by,  "Come  and 
listen  to  me,  I  want  to  talk  to  you."  The  low-,  degraded  and 
bleareyed  wretches  commenced  to  jeer  at  him  and  make  fun  of 
him.  A  large  number  of  the  ragged  children  remained  silent  to 
hear  what  he  had  to  say,  Joe  and  I  among  the  others.  The  little 
boy  raised  his  pretty  face  up  toward  Heaven,  or,  properly  speak- 
ing, the  sky.  He  uttered  a  pretty  little  prayer,  and  oh,  how- 
beautiful  I  thought  the  words  were  as  they  came  from  his  lips. 
He  finished  up  by  saying,  "Oh,  God  bless  them  all,  these  thy 
children,  for  thou  has^said,  "Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven;  " 
Then  he  sang  a  beautiful  song.  \Ye  could  not  understand  the 
words,  as  someone  said  it  was  in  the  Gaelic  tongue.  They  ap- 
plauded him  when  he  had  finished  and  then  he  sang  in  broken 
English,  some  of  the  people  that  stood  near  by  said  that  song 
was  sung  in  a  broad  Scotch  accent.  It  was  so  pretty  that  I 
noticed  a  woman  that  stood  near  bv  crving  all  the  time  that  he 


150         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

sang.  Then  he  spoke  for  us  in  that  broad  accent.  He  told  us 
Hell  was  within  us.  It  was  in  our  souls  and  it  was  only  through 
the  moral  lives  we  lived  that  we  could  dig  it  out.  Many  of  the 
degraded  people  that  stood  around  laughed  and  said,  "The  brat's 
a  fool.  Hell's  down  below  and  Heaven's  up  above."  He  said, 
"If  you  wish  to  come  nearer  to  God  you  must  purify  your  lives 
by  helping  each  other  to  get  out  of  this  degradation  that  you 
have  fallen  into.  Hell  is  only  a  place  in  your  mind  created  by 
your  soul's  desire  to  live  an  abandoned  life.  Now,  you  must 
take  that  soul  to  task  to  live  and  command  it  to  dig  up  that  hell 
and  throw  it  to  the  winds.  You  are  good  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren if  you  only  understood  where  the  good  quality  is  located. 
He  said,  "If  you  wish  to  come  nearer  to  God  you  must  purify 
your  lives  by  helping  each  other  to  get  out  of  this  degradation 
that  you  have  fallen  into.  Hell  is  only  a  place  in  your  mind 
created  by  your  soul's  desire  to  live  an  abandoned  life.  Now, 
you  must  take  that  soul  to  task  and  command  it  to  dig  up  that 
Hell  and  throw  it  to  the  winds.  You  are  good  men,  women  and 
children  if  you  understand  where  the  good  quality  is  located." 
A  lot  of  them  commenced  to  laugh  and  mock  him.  He  said, 
"That  quality  is  also  in  your  soul.  Now  I  want  you  to  repeat 
the  Lord's  Prayer  with  me."  He  commenced  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  only  one  that  repeated  it  with  him  was  the 
woman  that  cried  so  much.  All  of  a  sudden  a  low,  degraded 
strumpet  caught  hold  of  his  beautiful  hair  and  tried  to  drag  him 
into  the  gutter.  As  she  did  so  Joe  kicked  her  and  knocked  her 
down.  He  kept  kicking  her  until  she  released  his  hair.  He 
cried  out  with  the  pain,  but  went  on  preaching  again.  By  this 
time  a  large  crowd  had  collected  around  him.  He  told  them 
God  was  no  personal  being,  he  was  a  universal  principle  and 
loved  the  children  of  men. 

Just  then  an  old  minister  came  along  who  used  to  preach 
sometimes  for  the  degraded  wretches  of  the  Five  Points.  His 
name  was  Clark.  After  he  had  listened  a  little  while  he  cried 
out,  "Sacrilege!  Blasphemy  against  the  true  Christian  God.  The 
child  is  influenced  by  the  devil.  It's  one  of  the  devil's  imps 
passing  itself  off  as  a  pretty  child.  Call  the  police  and  take  it 
away.  It  is  a  blasphemer  of  the  worst  kind  :  stop  up  your  ears 
and  don't  listen  to  it.  It's  the  devil  come  to  earth  trving  to 


SADA— THE  LONE  ONE  151 

ensnare  you  poor  creatures  here  of  the  Five  Points  who  have 
lost  all  sense  and  reason  you  ever  had."  He  screamed  out  his 
words  so  loud  that  two  policemen  came  up  to  see  what  was  the 
matter.  The  minister  told  them  that  that  child  was  a  blasphemer 
against  the  Christian  God,  was  a  nuisance  and  a  disturber  of  the 
peace,  as  "these  people  can  bear  me  witness  in  what  I  say.  I 
command  you  to  arrest  him — take  him  to  the  station-house  and 
lock  him  up." 

The  policemen  spoke  to  the  little  boy,  saying,  "You  must 
come  with  us,  you  are  making  too  big  a  racket  here."  He  said 
to  one  of  the  policemen,  "Will  you  carry  me  pigaback  if  I  go 
with  you?"  That  brought  quite  a  laugh  from  the  children  and 
jeers  from  the  adults — poor,  miserable  creatures.  The  policemen 
said,  "All  right,  boy,  get  on."  The  little  boy  sprang  on  to  the 
policeman's  back,  caught  hold  of  his  collar  with  his  little  hands, 
at  the  same  time  the  policeman  put  back  his  hands  and  caught 
hold  of  the  Little  One's  legs.  They  went  off  towards  the  sta- 
tion house,  the  little  boy  singing,  "When  You  and  I  Were 
Young,  Tom."  The  other  policeman  had  to  hold  his  sides  from 
laughing  so  much.  A  big  crowd  followed,  shouting  and  holler- 
ing, "The  young  blasphemer  has  collared  the  policeman."  Be- 
fore we  arrived  at  the  station  house  there  was  quite  a  long  pro- 
cession of  people.  Some  of  the  boys  took  off  their  ragged  jack- 
ets and  caps  and  were  waving  them  in  the  air,  while  the  little 
girls  were  waving  little  shawls  and  anything  else  they  could 
wave.  I  remember  an  unfortunate  woman  took  off  her  red  and 
green  plaid  shawl,  stole  a  broom  from  in  front  of  a  grocery 
store  and  fastened  her  shawl  upon  the  handle  in  some  way.  She 
raised  it  up  and  waved  it  as  she  went  along  the  street,  shouting 
out,  "We've  caught  the  devil's  servant  at  last."  The  minister, 
following  up  behind  her.  begged  her  to  take  clown  her  shawl 
and  act  respectable  in  the  street.  She  stood  still  until  he  had 
passed  her,  then  she  gave  him  a  kick  in  his  back  anatomy  which 
landed  him  in  the  muddy  gutter.  Then  the  unfortunate  wretches 
raised  a  shout,  crying  aloud,  "Glory  to  God  for  Betty;  she's 
downed  the  minister.  Xow  let  her  down  the  devil  if  she  can." 

Finally  we  got  to  the  station  house  but  none  were  permitted 
to  enter  outside  of  the  two  policemen,  the  Little  One  and  the 
minister,  whose  black  clothes  looked  filthv.  as  he  had  been  com- 


152         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

pelled  to  lie  in  the  dirty  mud  gutter  for  several  minutes  until 
some  one  had  assisted  him  to  stand  on  his  feet.  When  he  stood 
on  his  feet  he  cried  out,  ''Dear  Christ  have  mercy  on  the  abom- 
inable wretches.  The  Five  Points  are  getting  nearer  hell  every 
day."  After  a  little  while  I  slipped  into  the  station  house  un- 
noticed by  the  policemen.  I  went  over  to  a  bench  and  sat  down 
by  the  little  boy.  I  took  one  of  his  hands  in  mine  and  he  looked 
at  me  and  smiled  with  those  glorious  eyes  of  his.  He  put  one 
of  his  hands  on  my  head  and  smoothed  down  my  hair,  saying, 
"Little  girl,  there  is  a  happy  future  for  you,  but  blood  must  be 
shed  before  it  comes  to  pass."  The  minister  must  have  heard 
what  he  said,  for  he  turned  around  and  yelled  out,  "The  imp  of 
hell  is  a  witch  besides  a  blasphemer  of  the  Christian  God."  Then 
the  policeman  ordered  me  out  of  the  station  house.  In  the  door- 
way stood  that  woman  that  cried  to  much  while  he  was  singing 
and  talking.  She  said  to  the  policeman,  "If  you  will  only  per- 
mit me  to  kiss  those  pure,  innocent  lips  of  that  child  I  think  I 
can  become  a  good  woman."  The  policeman  picked  up  the  little 
boy  from  the  bench,  carried  him  in  his  arms  to  the  door,  saying 
to  the  Little  One,  "\Yould  you  object  to  kissing  this  woman?" 
The  Little  One  said,  "Oh,  no,  I  like  to  kiss  good  women."  He 
threw  his  arms  around  her  neck,  then  kissed  her  on  the  lips  sev- 
eral times.  After  that  he  placed  his  little  hand  on  her  head, 
saying,  "Good  woman,  you  will  become  a  great  worker  in  the 
Vineyard  of  Souls."  She  said,  "Thank  God,  never  again  shall  I 
place  a  glass  of  liquor  to  my  lips.  I  call  upon  God  and  you  men 
here  to  witness  what  I  say.  Please  let  me  stay  here  tonight  in 
order  that  I  may  sober  up  properly."  They  did  so. 

The  four  policemen  that  were  present  in  the  station  house 
each  one  kissed  the  Little  One  in  turn.  The  Chief  of  Police  said, 
"Hand  him  to  me."  He,  too,  kissed  him,  saying  at  the  same 
time,  "If  you  are  in  league  with  the  devil,  as  this  minister  says, 
I  think  today  you  have  saved  a  soul  from  hell."  The  minister 
cried  out,  "You're  all  blasphemers  of  the  worst  kind.  The  little 
bastard  has  bewitched  you  and  I  leave  you  to  the  devil,  for  he 
will  own  you  at  the  last."  He  rushed  out  of  the  station  house 
and  as  he  was  going  down  the  steps  Joe  stabbed  him  in  the  leg 
with  a  big  pin.  He  jumped  and  hollered,  "Dear  Jesus,  have 
mercy  on  me.  I  feel  the  pitchfork  of  hell  already,"  which  sent 


SADA— THE  LONE  ONE  153 

the  big  crowd  off  into  a  big  laugh.  The  young  ones  hollered  and 
shouted  after  him  until  he  got  out  of  sight. 

After  the  crowd  had  all  dispersed  and  sought  their  dirty 
hovels — those  that  had  any  to  go  to — I  watched  them  until  they 
were  all  gone  then  I  went  up  to  the  station  house  door  and 
asked  the  Chief  of  Police  or  the  head  man  there,  whom  I  thought 
must  have  been  a  Chief,  "Would  you  please  let  me  kiss  the  little 
joy?  I  liked  him  so  much."  He  called  the  little  boy  up  to  him 
and  said,  "Would  you  mind  kissing  this  little  girl?"  The  little 
boy  said  "No,"  and  then  kissed  me.  Then  he  asked  the  man  if 
I  could  stay  with  him  in  the  station  house.  The  man  said,  "All 
right,  until  his  people  come  after  him."  We  went  over  and  sat 
on  a  bench,  holding  each  other's  hands,  and  oh,  I  was  so  happy 
then,  for  we  laughed  and  talked  together.  I  remained  all  that 
night  with  him  in  the  station  house.  He,  the  woman  and  I  slept 
in  one  bed  that  night.  A  man  called  for  him  in  the  morning, 
and  oh,  how  he  scolded  that  little  boy.  He  scolded  him  so  hard 
that  I  commenced  to  cry.  The  little  boy  took  my  hand  and  said, 
"Don't  cry,  there  will  always  be  fools  like  him  in  the  world." 
The  man  took  him  away  and  that's  the  last  I  ever  saw  of  him  in 
the  body.  That  woman  became  Mrs.  Spring,  the  great  mission- 
ary of  the  Five  Points. 

I  have  discovered  since  I  came  here  to  spirit  life  that  little 
boy  is  this  individual  through  whose  lips'  I  give  this  communi- 
cation in  Searchlight  Bower.  They  say  the  changes  he  has 
passed  through  since  then  have  been  wonderful. 

We  will  take  it  up,  sir,  at  another  time,  as  it  is  getting  late 
in  the  day. 

Monday,  December  15.  1902. 

Good  morning,  friend.  It  is  a  beautiful,  bright,  clear  mor- 
ning. Surely  such  a  morning  as  this  would  make  all  life  happy. 

I  will  now  continue  my  communication.  Why  I  delayed  so 
long  was  on  account  of  the  feebleness  of  the  medium.  He  was 
too  weak  and  I  was  not  permitted  to  use  his  organ  of  speech. 
They  have  granted  me  that  permission  this  morning,  so  now  I 
will  continue. 

There  is  a  day  towards  the  latter  part  of  this  month  which 
you  call  Christmas,  a  day  in  which  many  are  made  happy  by  the 
gifts  they  receive  from  their  friends,  and  also  the  great  dinners 


154         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

they  partake  of,  which  poisons  their  physical  organization  and 
in  many  cases  shortens  the  life  of  the  individual  partaking  there- 
of. They  have  made  sewers  of  their  stomachs.  The  stomach 
cannot  digest  that  which  has  been  forced  into  it  through  the 
canals  of  gluttony  and  the  order  and  condition  of  that  day's 
gluttony  results  in  some  disease  in  the  human  anatomy.  If  peo- 
ple would  only  stop  to  think  and  reason  out  their  condition  they 
would  make  the  discovery  they  had  been  living  on  a  basis  of 
cannibalism,  gorging  their  stomachs  and  systems  with  a  flesh 
eating  diet,  not  only  causing  degeneracy  to  them  that  partake  of 
that  flesh  diet,  but  cruelty  of  the  wrorst  kind,  destroying  life  that 
they  did  not  give,  all  because  that  old  liar,  Jehovah,  said  it  was 
good  for  them  to  eat  all  manner  of  animal  food,  he  being  an  old 
licentious  brute  and  a  cruel  tyrant  of  the  worst  kind,  teaching 
people  to  murder,  steal  and  lie ;  teaching  the  male  condition  of 
the  human  race  to  covet  other  men's  wives  and  daughters.  Out 
upon  such  a  low,  degraded  writer,  that  would  give  such  advice 
to  the  human  race.  He  was  a  filthy  beast  of  the  lowest  kind, 
who  lived  in  the  midst  of  degradation  and  licentiousness  of  the 
lowest  kind  or  order  that  the  human  mind  can  have  any  concep- 
tion of.  Woe  be  to  them  that  accept  such  slush  as  the  ''Word  of 
God."  When  Reason  has  grown  and  developed  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  it  will  clear  up  their  befogged  minds  and  the  mantle  of 
shame  will  blush  their  cheeks  to  think  they  had  accepted  such 
corruption  as  the  word  of  God  coming  from  an  old  demoniac 
brute  of  the  lowest  order,  who  wrote  up  misery  tales  and  called 
them  religious  works  of  Jehovah.  Enough  of  this.  It  is  degrad- 
ing to  think  of,  that  the  human  race  has  been  plastered  over 
with  such  filthy  slime  in  the  name  of  Religion. 

The  Christian  world  claims  that  on  the  25th  day  of  Decem- 
ber a  Saviour  was  born  to  them  who  laid  in  a  manger,  as  there 
was  no  room  for  the  mother  and  the  child  in  the  inn:  that  he 
came  into  the  world — this  Saviour — under  miraculous  condi- 
tions :  that  none  of  the  laws  of  nature  had  anything  to  do  with 
it.  God  granted  the  mother  a  special  dispensation  where  the 
Holy  Ghost  came  to  her  on  that  special  occasion,  whispered  love 
tales  in  her  ear  and  she  fell  a  victim  to  the  Hoi}-  Ghost's  flirta- 
tion through  that  special  dispensation.  When  the  mother  and 
Holy  G/host  had  summed  it  up — or  in  other  words,  when  the 


SAD  A— THE  LONE  ONE  155 

mother  and  the  Holy  Ghost  had  talked  it  over,  and  the  over- 
shadowing had  passed  away,  it  was  found  when  the  usual  nine 
months  was  up  she  would  become  a  mother  and  bear  a  child 
and  its  name  would  be  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  human  race — 
Joseph,  her  husband,  only  filled  up  the  background,  as  he  was  a 
looker-on,  who  felt  quite  elated  at  the  intrigue  that  had  taken 
place  between  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his  wife  Mary. 

People  of  intellect  and  intelligence  today  call  that  adultery, 
but  there  may  have  been  a  possibility  that  Joseph  had  lost  his 
manhood,  he  being  old  and  up  in  years.  The  Holy  Ghost  being 
a  lying  hypocrite,  like  all  Holy  Ghosts  are  of  the  Christian 
church,  deceived  the  old  man  and  led  Mary  astray.  No  doubt  she 
was  willing  to  be  so  lead,  a  rosy  cheeked  young  damsel  who  was 
fond  of  the  pleasures  of  life  like  others  of  her  sex.  Things  were 
reversed  that  time.  The  Holy  Ghost  tempted  a  daughter  of  Eve. 
(Just  then  a  loud  rap  came  to  let  us  know  the  spirits  acquiesced 
in  what  the  communicating  spirit  had  said.)  In  general,  as  it 
is  said  by  that  worthy  old  libertine,  Jehovah,  Eve  tempted  Adam 
and  he  fell.  I  am  so  glad  that  the  old  brute  has  changed  his 
ideas,  allowing  that  male  Holy  Ghost,  one  of  his  Archangels,  to 
tempt  Mary,  her  husband  being  old  and  worthless,  as  his  man- 
hood had  gone  to  sleep  waiting  for  re-embodiment.  This  gives 
woman  now  a  chance  to  brag  some.  She  was  elevated  through 
the  condition,  knowing  that  she  was  no  longer  the  temptress, 
but  man  is  the  tempter.  A  flood  of  reason  (another  rap)  had 
reached  the  human  brain  whereby  the  children  of  nature  com- 
menced to  think  for  themselves,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
curse  of  priestcraft  holding  them  under  a  bond  of  religious  su- 
perstition, their  enlightenment  would  have  been  wonderful  today. 

This  miraculous  birth  that  the  Christian  world  believes  in 
was  of  Pagan  origin.  It  was  the  birth  of  a  Sun  God.  The  Pagan 
sun-worshippers  believed  by  their  way  of  counting  that  every 
hundred  years  the  great  central  Sun  of  Life  threw  off  a  new  Sun, 
which  they  claimed  was  the  birth  of  a  voting  sun  thrown  off  by 
the  parent  Sun  which  they  claimed  was  both  male  and  female. 
They  realized  as  they  thought  that  a  manifestation  of  corrup- 
tion had  conceived  or  created  through  the  generating  process  of 
the  male  Sun.  whose  seed  was  beyond  all  expression  in  life.  lie 
had  presented  through  the  womb  of  Xature  a  new  Sun  that  must 


156         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

take  his  position  in  space,  draw  close  to  a  dark  planet,  that  has 
also  been  created  in  the  abode  of  darkness.  This  young  Sun  had 
to  manifest  and  illuminate  that  dark  planet  so  that  life  could  ex- 
ist upon  it  in  time.  Where  that  young  dark  planet  was  created 
was  called  the  abode  of  Spazzemanca,  that  dark  God  they  thought 
never  saw  the  light.  He  was  kept  in  that  condition  to  create 
planets  void  of  Life  and  Light.  The  ancient  Pagans  believed 
that  when  the  great  Central  Sun  manifested  its  power  by  usher- 
ing into  space  a  young  Sun  it  brought  a  wave  of  Life  and  In- 
telligence with  it  to  the  minds  of  the  human  race.  The  ancient 
Sun  worshippers  represented  that  this  took  place  in  the  month 
that  you  call  December.  They  believed  it  brought  a  Messiah 
to  the  world,  which  was  a  great  flood  of  light  to  govern  and  di- 
rect the  forces  of  the  human  intellect. 

When  Christianity  was  ushered  in  and  introduced  among 
the  Pagan  race  it  was  a  great  force  of  intelligence  that  they  had 
discovered  through  a  higher  growth  of  civilization  called  "Mind 
and  Matter."  There  had  come  to  them  a  Messiah  or  God  of 
Light.  They  held  what  'you  call  seances  or  circles.  In  that  se- 
ance an  independent  voice  spoke  to  them,  telling  them  of  a  great 
wave  of  religion  that  would  spread  itself  throughout  their  part  of 
the  world  and  it  would  be  called  Creasept,  meaning  the  crea- 
tures of  earth  would  accept  it  through  a  manifestation  and  high- 
er conception  of  Intellect  \vhich  they  must  call  a  divine  condi- 
tion and  the  adepts  of  the  secret  circle  would  receive  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  that  religion.  They  warned  them  to  beware 
of  the  Serpent  that  lived  in  the  human  heart  or  it  would  destroy 
the  beauty  of  the  divine  Religion.  In  time  they  permitted  the 
Pagan  priests  to  enter  their  secret  order  and  take  the  vows  upon 
them  as  they  would  consecrate  their  life  to  the  new  wave  of 
Intellect  called  Religion.  Those  Pagan  priests  gained  power 
through  hypocrisy  and  became  the  tyrants  of  the  new  Religion. 
They  introduced  into  this  new  religion  Pagan  images.  They  set 
up  one  above  all  the  others,  called  Hesiod,  and  called  him  the 
Christian  God.  A  new  conception  entered  their  minds  that  he 
should  have  a  miraculous  birth.  They  located  his  birth  with  the 
new  Sun  God  that  was  thrown  into  space. 

When  the  people  made  the  discovery  that  their  great  God 
Hesiod  was,  as  they  thought,  a  new  Sun  of  Light  that  had  come 


SADA— THE  LONE  ONE  157 

in  their  midst  they  danced,  sang  and  held  a  great  festival.  From 
hence  comes  your  Christmas,  or  the  miraculous  birth  of  your 
Jesus,  taken  from  the  new  Sun  God  thrown  into  space  during 
the  winter  Solstices.  So,  you  see,  this  miraculous  birth  outside 
of  the  laws  of  Nature  that  took  place  between  Mary  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  with  Joseph  for  a  background,  is  a  fraud  of  the 
worst  kind. 

That  which  I  have  related  to  you  was  given  to  me  by  an 
advanced  ancient  spirit.  He  tells  me  that  when  a  new  planet  is 
discovered  through  the  great  lens  by  the  scientific  observers,  no 
matter  how  far  distant  it  is  from  your  earth,  as  long  as  they  can 
discover  its  outlines  it  is  the  herald  of  a  new  Light  that  is  going 
to  be  ushered  in  upon  your  earth  planet.  Friend,  if  you  have 
been  an  observer  that  when  a  new  planet  has  been  discovered  a 
great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  human  mind  and  its  sur- 
roundings. If  you  look  back  and  think  yon  must  remember 
how  some  new  philosophy  was  started  by  an  advanced  mind. 
Those  advanced  minds  are  the  new  Messiahs  bringing  to  the 
children  of  men  a  new  Light  and  a  new  moral  growth.  They 
are  the  great  civilizers  of  your  earth  planet.  They  have  given 
you  new  food  to  live  upon,  great  thoughts  they  have  ushered 
in  the  new  Age  of  Reason.  At  all  times  and  in  all  times  they 
have  brought  to  you  a  great  civilization  through  the  power  of 
growth  and  evolution.  It  has  been  manifested  to  the  thinking 
mind  as  a  wave  of  Light  that  has  brought  great  nutrition  to 
their  brain  forces.  It  is  an  utter  impossibility  that  this  wave 
motion  could  pass  over  your  earth  planet  without  some  minds 
catching  up  this  beautiful  inspiration  that  works  almost  mira- 
cles in  souls'  growth.  It  comes  from  the  great  central  Sun  of 
Nature's  Universe,  unified  in  the  souls  of  men  and  women, 
whereby  we  get  a  thorough  understanding  of  re-embodiment, 
all  souls  that  lived  in  spiritual  bodies  must  constantly  return 
into  physical  bodies  to  get  a  proper  understanding  of  physical  and 
spiritual  growth.  The  soul  understanding  that  condition,  thor- 
oughly hails  with  joy.  and  welcomes  the  entering  of  the  spiritual 
into  the  phvsieal  embodiment. 

The  soul  understands  when  the  lesson  is  thoroughly  learned  by 
the  spiritual  or  astrals.  then  it  comprehends  the  power  of  evo- 
lution in  all  its  ministrations  and  unfoldments  for  the  "rowth 


158         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

of  the  astral.  When  the  spiritual  becomes  perfect  and  under- 
stands the  perfect  of  perfecness  it  is  deified  in  the  soul  and  be- 
comes one  great  light  or  Messiah  for  the  lower  conditions  of 
the  human  race.  That  Soul's  work  then  is  the  constant  eleva- 
tion of  the  human  race.  It  glorifies  in  the  perfect,  beautiful  of 
all  things  spiritual.  It  is  the  beacon  light  that  commences  with 
the  children  of  Earth.  It  teaches  them  all  earth  religions  are 
man  made. 

The  only  true  religion  that  comes  from  the  Central  Sun  of 
Light  is  Truth  embellished  in  Sunlight.  Truth  is  the  great  gen- 
erator and  creator  of  life.  Nothing  transpires  or  is  formed  and 
fashioned  only  through  Truth.  Truth  is  Nature's  great  God 
constantly  watching  over  and  through  the  Eon  of  all  time,  which 
means  Eternity.  No  beginning,  no  end,  beyond  the  compre- 
hension of  man's  brain  forces.  \\  e  are  all  in  the  swim,  let  us 
make  the  best  of  it.  Let  us  be  thoughtful,  sincere  and  honest 
and  then  we  will  be  happy  for  all  time  to  come,  gaining  knowl- 
edge with  each  revelation  that  will  come  through  the  new  light 
to  our  earth  planet. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  will 
leave  my  love  for  your  medium  and  will  also  say  that  "Sada,  the 
Lone  One"  has  gained  knowledge  by  taking  the  humble  position 
of  a  listener  to  advanced  minds.  I  once  more  thank  you  and  will 
say  good  day,  friend. 

Friday,  December  19,  1902. 

God  is  an  ethereal  expression  in  Life,  deified  in  the  great 
Central  Sun  outworked  and  expressed  through  a  great  unfold- 
ment  of  all  principles  in  Nature.  The  ethereal  expression  uni- 
fies itself  in  all  life.  AYisdom  and  Reason  comes  from  the  inner 
sense  of  that  unification  that  gives  Light  and  Life  to  souls  occult 
deification  through  natural  laws  in  the  human  intellect  which 
means  soul's  growth,  being  one  of  the  higher  expressions  in 
Nature's  element  unfolding  and  throwing  off  all  essential  parts 
that  govern  your  physical  embodiment. 


Ida 

Chapter  IX 


Thursday,  January  1,  1903. 

Good  morning,  sir  and  friend.  I  have  been  permitted  to 
enter  Searchlight  Bovver  this  beautiful  morning.  The  first  day  of 
the  new  year — oh,  but  it  is  a  beautiful  day.  Who  would  have  ever 
thought  that  this  old  body  of  your  medium  would  be  still  mov- 
ing around  on  New  Years  Day,  1903.  The  last  time  I  met  him 
in  the  body — that  is,  when  I  also  inhabited  a  physical  body — he 
looked  frail,  age  was  commencing  to  place  its  mark  on  his  phys- 
ical body,  but  the  soul,  I  could  see,  was  young. 

Why  I  come  here  today  is  to  give  to  the  reading  public  a 
communication  in  which  I  will  describe  an  experience  connected 
with  my  last  physical  body.  I  had  what  you  call  a  beautiful  and 
musical  voice.  It  was  undergoing  a  vocal  training  and  I  was 
preparing  myself  for  the  Grand  Opera  which  position  I  never 
had  the  pleasure  of  attaining.  My  vocal  teacher  told  me  I 
had  a  remarkable  voice  and  in  time  would  have  one  of  remark- 
able register,  but  I  was  cut  oft  in  mv  voung  maidenhood  at  the 
age  of  eighteen.  I  looked  forward  to  great  results  in  the  musical 
profession.  The  last  time  I  saw  this  medium,  through  whose 
life  I  now  speak,  was  at  the  Academv  of  Misic  in  Xew  York, 
lie  was  playing  .Mrs.  Lollipop  in  "Ouiet  Life."  I  sang  a  solo 
from  Xorma.  The  papers,  in  speaking  of  the  benefit  on  that  oc- 
casion, complimented  my  voice  highly,  saying  they  expected 
great  tilings  Iroin  me  in  time.  I  must  admit  it  made  me  vary 
happy  as  I  was  somewhat  of  a  vain  nature  and  thought  I  was  of 
a  superior  mould  to  the  general  class  of  people.  Oh  vanity, 
vanity,  thon  art  the  destruction  of  kingdoms,  when  taken  at 
their  height.  Thou  layest  them  low  before  the  altar  of  Humility. 
Ambition  and  a  wicked  mother  laid  niv  phvsical  body  low 
through  a  poisonous  drug  that  she  gave  me  in  a  cup  of  coffee. 


160         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

my  unfortunate  mother  was  a  vain,  fashionable  woman,  who 
sold  her  virtue  to  obtain  money  in  order  to  procure  fashionable 
attire.  She  was  a  frivolous  woman,  a  disgrace  and  curse  to  my 
father.  That  is  the  way  people  would  express  themselves  that 
live  in  a  physical  body.  My  father  was  a  whole-souled,  gener- 
ous man,  a  man  that  any  woman  could  be  proud  of  and  look  up 
to  with  pride  and  respect  for  his  manly  qualities  in  life.  Un- 
fortunately he  fell  in  love  with  a  pretty  face  and  paid  the  pen- 
alty, like  many  of  his  sex  had  done  before.  My  mother,  regard- 
less of  his  love  and  protection,  ruined  his  good  name.  She 
brought  him  down  almost  to  poverty  through  her  extravagance ; 
finally  disgraced  his  name,  from  which  he  never  seemed  to  rally. 
He  passed  out  of  his  body  a  broken  hearted  man.  I  held  him 
in  my  arms,  with  my  lips  upon  his,  while  his  spirit  took  its 
flight.  He  was  a  son  of  one  of  the  most  respected  families  of 
Philadelphia.  He  loved  me  dearly,  his  only  child,  and  to  me  he 
was  my  God,  my  everything  in  life.  The  last  words  he  said  to 
me  before  his  spirit  passed  from  his  body  were,  "Ida,  watch 
your  mother.  Do  not  permit  her  to  come  to  your  sleeping 
chamber  at  night  under  any  pretext  whatever,  for  she  will  do 
you  violence.  She  hates  you  ever  since  her  mother  left  you  that 
property."  I  told  him  I  would  be  guarded  on  all  occasions  and 
would  pay  particular  attention  to  his  advice,  which  I  did.  After 
my  father's  body  had  been  laid  away  about  a  month  my  mother 
became  more  reckless  than  ever  and  I  often  had  to  blush  for  the 
indiscretions  of  her  actions  towards  the  male  sex.  She  would 
paint  and  powder  her  face,  attend  all  manner  of  dancing  and 
balls  in  public  places.  She  became  a  matinee  fiend  at  the  prin- 
cipal theatres.  On  one  of  her  visitations  at  a  public  place  of 
amusement  she  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Doctor  Lewis,  so 
he  called  himself.  He  claimed  to  be  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  Eng- 
land. Mother  had  him  come  and  board  at  our  house.  He  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  specialist  in  all  cases  of  eye  disease.  Finding  my 
mother  was  a  vain  and  weak  woman  he  fed  her  vanity  by  telling 
her  she  was  beautiful  and  a  queen  among  women.  She  gave 
birth  to  a  child  which  he  choked  the  life  out  of  as  soon  as  it  was 
born  into  the  world  and  T  think  it  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the 
child.  Imagine  a  child  coming  from  such  parents,  then  perhaps 
\'ou  will  think  as  I  did. 


IDA  161 

When  my  grandmother  left  me  her  property  it  consisted  of 
three  renting  houses  which  brought  me  an  income  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars  a  month.  If  I  should  pass  out  of  the  body  before 
my  mother  did  the  property  would  go  to  her,  provided  I  was  not 
married  and  had  no  heirs.  I  never  thought  of  marriage,  for  my 
whole  ambition  was  to  become  a  noted  singer. 

My  mother  told  this  Doctor  Lewis  that  if  I  should  die  with- 
out leaving  any  heirs  the  property  would  pass  to  her.  He,  be- 
ing a  scoundrel  of  the  worst  kind,  prepared  a  sleeping  draught 
for  me,  gave  it  to  my  mother,  and  she  placed  it  in  my  coffee  and 
I  went  to  sleep.  While  under  that  sleep  1  passed  from  my 
physical  body  in  the  height  of  my  maidenhood  bloom,  for  I  was 
fair  to  look  upon,  so  my  mirror  told  me. 

Then  Doctor  Lewis  got  my  mother  to  sell  the  property  and 
turn  it  into  cash.  He  said  they  would  go  to  Australia  where  he 
would  become  a  great  sheep  raiser  and  accumulate  wealth  that 
would  go  up  into  the  millions.  He  would  then  take  her  to  Eng- 
land and  introduce  her  at  the  English  court,  as  he  had  royal  blood 
in  his  veins.  He  said  he  knew  Queen  Victoria  would  fall 
in  love  with  her.  Poor,  weak  woman,  she  believed  all,  for  her 
vanity  was  great.  She  tells  me  in  spirit  world  she  just  imagined 
herself  sitting  alongside  of  Queen  Victoria  in  Windsor  Castle, 
holding  a  tete-a-tete  with  the  Queen,  who  would  admire  her 
beauty  and  her  jewels — poor,  deluded  woman.  He  stole  her 
money,  abandoned  her  to  her  fate  and  went  off  with  a  woman, 
a  low,  coarse,  degraded  and  immoral  character  who  claimed  to 
be  the  natural  (laughter  of  the  great  actress,  Lola  Montez. 

My  mother — unfortunate  woman — sank  deeper  and  deeper 
in  sin.  She  fascinated  a  man  while  he  was  under  the  influence 
of  liquor.  He  was  a  married  man  and  had  a  wife  and  children, 
one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  Pa. 
She  allured  him  to  her  den  of  shame  and  there  presented  to  him 
a  glass  of  liquor  with  poison  in  it  ;  after  drinking  it  he  died 
within  an  hour  in  terrible  agonv.  She  robbed  him  of  his  money 
and  jewelry  and  lied  the  place,  but  was  captured  in  Chicago  by 
detectives,  who  put  her  under  arrest.  Thev  were  bringing  her 
back  to  Philadelphia  to  stand  trial.  She  was  prepared  for  the 
condition.  Out  of  her  breast  she  took  a  little  vial  unnoticed  by 
the  detective,  drank  the  contents,  which  was  powerful  poison. 


162        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

she  tells  me,  and  was  dead  inside  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  That 
was  the  fate  of  my  unhappy  mother ;  her  body  was  handed  over 
to  her  relations  for  burial.  My  grandfather  on  my  father's  side 
prevented  them  from  placing  her  body  alongside  of  my  father. 
They  buried  her — that  is,  her  body — in  their  own  family  lot. 

That  wretch  who  bore  the  name  of  Lewis  abandoned  that 
lewd  woman  and  unfortunate  character  who  said  she  was  the 
daughter  of  Lola  Montez.  He  went  to  Paris,  married  a  French 
actress  in  the  vaudeville  profession,  stole  her  jewels  and  money 
and  abandoned  her  as  he  did  the  others.  He  now  resides  in  New 
Zealand,  and  has  another  woman  that  he  calls  wife— one  of  the 
most  notorious  characters  in  that  leading  city  of  New  Zealand. 
I  hope  he  will  be  fortunate  enough  to  read  this  communication. 
He  will  understand  then  who  gave  it  to  the  reading  public.  He 
married  seven  women,  besides  others  that  he  lived  with,  and 
changed  his  name  in  every  place  he  lived  in.  At  the  present 
time  he  bears  the  name  of  Shelton,  claiming  while  living  in  the 
L'nited  States  he  was  a  dramatic  author  and  wrote  many  stories 
for  the  Sunday  journals.  I  hope  these  lines  will  meet  his  eye, 
and  if  he  has  any  conscience  left,  surely  it  will  be  the  means  of 
something  of  a  reformation  from  his  past  life. 

I  was  acquainted  with  your  medium  from  the  age  of  seven 
up  to  the  time  I  passed  from  my  physical  body.  I  admired  his 
character  acting  very  much  but  found  him  cold  and  distant  and 
very  hard  to  approach  on  friendly  terms.  I  have  heard  people 
in  the  profession  say  that  his  heart  was  as  cold  as  marble.  I 
can  see  now  they  did  not  understand  him,  neither  did  I.  I  won- 
dered how  it  was  while  playing  on  the  stage  he  was  so  full  of 
mirth  and  fun.  He  kept  the  people  screaming  with  his  comedy 
acting.  After  leaving  the  stage  and  entering  the  wings  he  be- 
came cold  and  distant  again.  I  said  to  Mr.  E.  L.  Davenport, 
"What  a  strange  creature  that  is.  He  seems  to  be  boiling  over 
with  fun  when  on  the  stage:  off  it  as  he  is  now  you  would  think, 
Mr.  Davenport,  he  was  void  of  all  animation."  Mr.  Davenport 
said,  "You  are  most  all  strangers  here  to  the  Little  One.  He 
hasn't  played  in  Xew  York  for  many  years.  You  are  all  a  new 
generation  to  him.  for  you  must  understand  he  is  no  longer  a 
young  person."  Mr.  O'Xeil  came  up  to  where  we  were  stand- 


IDA  163 

ing,  by  this  time,  listening  to  part  of  our  conversation,  and  said, 
"I  do  not  believe  it's  a  male  at  all;  look  at  that  beautiful  neck 
and  those  voluptuous  breasts  and  then  call  it  a  male — why,  it  is 
ridiculous."  Mr.  Davenport  said,  "The  Little  One  is  of  both 
sexes,  the  female  nature  predominating.  Don't  you  think  she 
sang  that  piece  of  music  pretty — 'Time  and  Tide  Waits  for  No 
Man?''  I  said,  "That's  what  surprises  me;  she  has  got  such  a 
high  soprano  voice  and  yet  she  dresses  in  male  attire  and  walks 
the  streets  looking  like  a  boy,  for  she  is  not  tall  enough  to  look 
like  a  man ;  besides  that,  her  hands  and  feet  'are  too  small,  even 
for  a  good  sized  boy."  Mr.  Davenport  said,  "Look — she  is  going 
on  in  the  last  scene;  here's  where  she  makes  the  people  scream. 
I  have  seen  the  Little  One  play  this  character  several  times ;  it 
always  seems  new  to  me ;  she  is  constantly  introducing  some- 
thing new  to  make  the  people  scream  with  laughter."  At  the 
finish  of  the  scene  she  lifted  one  of  the  male  characters  by  the 
seat  of  his  pants  and  collar  of  his  jacket  and  held  him  up  for  a 
few  seconds,  hollering  out  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  ''Behold  the 
champion  of 'woman's  rights,"  then  threw  him  into  the  orchestra, 
while  the  curtain  fell,  leaving  the  audience  screaming  and  ap- 
plauding. When  she  came  off  the  stage  panting  for  breath,  the 
people  were  calling  for  her  to  appear  in  front  of  the  curtain.  The 
stage  manager  asked  Mr.  Davenport  to  lead  her  on,  as  she  was 
so  weak  from  her  great  exertion  in  the  comedy.  I  heard  the 
stage  manager  say.  "She  must  be  fifty  years  old  now,  for  I  re- 
member her  when  I  was  a  little  boy."  I  said  to  Mr.  O'Xeil. 
"Great  heavens,  can  it  be  possible  that  person  is  fifty  years  old? 
Why,  she  sang  and  danced  in  that  comedy  just  as  if  she  was  a 
young  girl."  Mr.  (  VXeil  said.  "Wonders  will  never  cease  and 
especially  in  stage  life."  When  Mr.  Davenport  led  her  off  the 
stage  he  held  her  in  his  arms,  as  she  was  so  nervous  it  seemed 
to  me  I  could  hear  the  creature's  heart  heat  :  finally  he  led  her 
to  the  green  room.  1  tollowed  to  see  what  the  result  would  be. 
lie  placed  her  in  a  seat,  sitting  alongside  of  her.  holding  her 
hands,  while  she  laid  hack  panting  for  breath.  I  said  to  myself. 
"Can  this  he  the  end  of  all  old  people  on  the  stager  How  hard 
they  must  work  to  please  the  people,  then  come  oft"  and  pant  like 
this  for  breath."  1  said  to  Mr.  Davenport,  "Why  do  you  hold 
her  hands  so  long — why  don't  you  call  one  of  the  servants  to 


bring  her  something  to  drink?"  He  said,  ''Not  now;  by  holding 
her  hands  I  give  her  magnetism ;  that  brings  back  some  of  her 
strength,  then  we  will  give  her  some  of  that  lemonade  with  the 
strawberry  juice  in  it." 

After  awhile  she  seemed  to  revive  and  become  herself  once 
more.  Then  Mr.  Davenport  requested  one  of  the  waiters  to  bring 
him  some  of  the  lemonade  with  a  teaspoon.  He  fed  her  the  lem- 
onade, a  teaspoonful  at  a  time.  She  looked  at  me  and  smiled, 
saying,  ''Isn't  it  nice  to  play  the  baby  and  get  fed  by  a  knight 
of  the  old  school?"-  I  said  to  her,  "Indeed,  you  are  a  born  sou- 
brette."  Mr.  Davenport  said,  "The  Little  One  could  not  be  any- 
thing else."  She  said  to  me  in  her  gentle  way,  "Young  girl,  it 
is  like  this  I  played  yesterday,  both  afternoon  and  evening,  at 
our  own  theatre  called  the  Broadway — then  playing  this  after- 
noon it  is  a  little  too  much  for  my  strength."  Then  Mr.  Daven- 
port said,  "Yes,  and  at  your  age.  too,  Puss."  She  professed  to 
blush,  which  she  could  do  to  perfection.  I  think  she  was  the 
most  perfect  flirt  I  ever  saw  on  the  stage.  She  looked  at  Mr. 
Davenport  with  one  of  her  winning  smiles,  saying  at  the  same 
time,  "Any  one  to  hear  you  talk  would  think  I  came  from  an  an- 
tique school."  Then  she  burst  out  into  one  of  her  musical  laughs 
for  which  she  was  noted.  Taking  my  hand  she  placed  me  on 
the  seat  near  her,  saying,  "My  dear,  it  tires  me  to  see  you  stand; 
would  you  believe  it.  my  dear,  in  this  profession  we  become 
slaves  to  amuse  the  people — for  what?  Just  for  the  bread  and 
butter  we  eat  and  the  clothes  we  wear.  We  can  take  none  of 
our  money  with  us  when  we  pass  through  the  dark  shadow  into 
that  bright  light  beyond  :  think  of  it — tonight  I  harness  up  again 
to  make  the  people  laugh  at  my  edisantrisities." 

Mr.  Davenport  smiled  and  said,  "The  Little  One  is  always 
coining  new  words  of  his  own  to  answer  his  purpose."  Mr. 
Davenport  looked  very  solemn  then  when  he  said,  "Puss,  I'm 
going  to  have  a  benefit — don't  you  want  to  volunteer  for  an  old 
gent  like  me?"  She  placed  her  hand  in  his.  saying,  "Old  sweet- 
heart, I'm  with  you  every  time;  what  will  it  be  on  that  occa- 
sion?" He  said,  "Mr.  Hart  has  promised  to  play  for  me.  I  want 
you  and  him  to  play  the  farce  as  'Old  Lovers/  "  She  laughed 
again  one  of  her  musical  laughs  and  said.  "Davy  old  boy,  you 
are  bound  to  place  me  in  the  Museum  of  Antiquity." 


IDA  165 

Just  then  Mr.  Bryant  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Jones  cartie  up.  Mr. 
Davenport  addressed  them,  saying,  "Did  you  ever  see  Mr.  Hart 
and  Puss  in  the  farce  of  the  'Old  Lovers,'  trying  to  be  young?" 
Mrs.  G.  \Y.  Jones  said,  "No,  but  I  have  heard  of  it,  and  want  to 
see  them  in  it.  Mr.  Bryant  has  just  been  telling  me  that  you 
are  going  to  have  a  benefit.  Mr.  Davenport,  I  want  to  present 
my  services  on  that  occasion,  if  they  are  acceptable."  Mr.  Dav- 
enport, taking  her  by  the  hand,  said,  "My  good  lady,  they  are  by 
all  means  acceptable  on  that  occasion.  I  will  appear  in  one  act 
myself  as  'Sir  Giles  Overreach,  in  a  Xevv  Way  to  Pay  Old 
Debts.'  " 

Just  then  a  gentleman  stepped  up,  saying,  "Puss,  your  car- 
riage is  waiting."  The  Little  One  bade  us  all  good  afternoon, 
and  kissing  Mrs.  Jones  and  Mr.  Davenport,  took  Mr.  Bryant's 
arm  and  walked  to  the  carriage.  Mr.  Davenport  said,  "I  feel  for 
the  Little  One  that  has  to  get  into  harness  again  tonight."  That 
is  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  your  medium  while  I  was  in  the  phys- 
ical body.  Mr.  Davenport  did  not  live  long  enough  to  receive  the 
receipts  of  his  benefit.  He  soon  passed  out  of  his  body. 

I  had  then  lived  to  discover,  as  young  as  I  was,  it  was  not 
all  gold  that  glitters  behind  the  scenes  at  the  theatre:  there  was 
lots  of  hard  work  and  much  anxiety  in  a  theatrical  life. 

I  leave  my  love  for  little  Justin.  Thanking  you,  kind  sir,  for 
taking  down  my  communication,  hoping  that  the  eyes  of  that 
villain.  Doctor  Lewis,  may  peruse  its  lines.  Good  day. 

Put  me  down  as  Ida,  as  I  have  no  desire  to  bring  my  lather's 
family  name  into  print,  for  it  was  a  name  that  I  loved  and  re- 
spected with  reverence.  I  cannot,  as  a  female  spirit,  be  the 
means  or  cause  of  any  reflection  cast  upon  the  name  of  my  moth- 
er, who  was  an  unfortunate  creature.  I  forgive  her.  but  there  is 
no  affinity  between  us  in  the  spirit  world.  Ida. 


A  Man's  Conscience 

Chapter   X 


Oh,  conscience  where  dost  thou  dwell, 
Do  you  live  in  the  souls  of  men  and  women 
Or  down  in  the  depths  of  hell? 
Say,  wily  conscience,  can  you  tell? 


Conscience,  hast  thou  a  moment  to  spare 
Since  you  left  that  degraded  girl  so  fair? 
Or  dost  thou  only  whirl  in  the  air. 
Conscience,  out  of  hell  hast  thou  time  to  spare 


To  listen  to  reason  that's  fair? 
Conscience,  are  you  on  earth 
Or  do  you  only  live  in  the  air. 
Since  heartstrings  von  love  to  tear? 


What   cry   is   this    I    hear? 

Conscience,  are  you  the  pall  of  the  bier, 

Or  art  thou  a  seer. 

Since  conscience   has  no  fear. 


Down  in   the  dens  of  sin, 
Conscience  covers  all  with  a  film, 
Since  a  seething  maelstrom  is  within, 
Oh,  conscience,  thou  art  black  with  sin. 


A  MAN'S  CONSCIENCE  167 

Hast  thou  heard  the  aching  cry? 
Conscience,  have  you  no  pity  or  a  sigh 
For  the  cruelty  of  a  human  fly? 
Since  to  all  misery  you  draw  nigh. 


Hast  thou  forgot  the  aching  hearts  on  earth? 
Conscience,  did  you  give  this  sin  a  birth 
To  breaking  hearts  sitting  at  the  hearth? 
Conscience,  art  thou  the  devil  on  earth? 

Behold  the  blinking,  blearing  race. 
Conscience,  have  you  a  false  face 
To  look  upon  this  deplorable  race? 
Conscience,  for  crime  you  have  made  a  place. 


One  little  thought  I  would  give. 
Conscience,  permit  Truth  to  live 
And  only  see  error  through  a  sieve. 
Conscience,  Wisdom  must  live. 


There  are  angel  faces  near, 
Conscience,  they  cry  out,  there  is  fear 
Since  the  power  of  Truth  is  near, 
Conscience  to  spirit  adhere. 


The  Devil  has  left   Hell. 
Conscience,  to  Truth   thou  art   a  sell. 
For  men   through   conscience  have   fell: 
Conscience,  wipe  out  thy  errors  in   Hell. 


Dr.  H.  W.  Gould 

Chapter  XI 


Saturday,  February  22,  1902. 

Good  morning,  Colonel.  How  goes  everything?  I  made  you 
several  promises,  also  Doctor  Meyer,  that  I  would  visit  your 
home  in  the  mountains.  Now  I  come  to  make  that  visit.  I  find 
it  a  cloudy  day,  so  it  will  give  us  a  chance  to  have  a  little  chat. 
I  suppose  you  know  who  I  am ;  I  am  old  man  Gould — old 
stingy  Gould,  as  the  Spiritualists  called  me,  because  I  didn't 
divide  my  property  with  them.  Suppose  I  had — it  wouldn't  have 
been  any  benefit  to  them.  There's  no  harmony  amongst  the  San 
Diego  Spiritualists.  As  far  as  I  could  see  they  did  nothing  but 
slander  one  another.  They  couldn't  unite,  because  they  all 
thought  they  understood  the  laws  of  spiritualism  and  some 
claimed  they  got  greater  communications  than  others,  because 
they  were  controlled  by  a  higher  class  of  spirits.  I  think  the 
biggest  farce  I  ever  witnessed  was  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  some  of  the  most  egotistical  spiritualists  that  I  ever 
heard  talk.  They  live  right  down  there  in  San  Diego.  I  don't 
want  you  to  think  that  I  am  going  to  make  any  excuses  for  my- 
self, for  I  think  that  I  was  one  of  the  most  pig-headed  and 
egotistical  spiritualists  that  ever  lived  in  San  Diego.  Stubborn- 
ness and  combativeness  was  my  whole  make-up  and  I  thought 
those  who  did  not  think  as  I  did  were  all  wrong. 

Xow  I  am  going  to  tell  you  of  a  little  scene  that  took  place 
between  Justin  and  myself.  ( )ne  da}'  he  made  me  a  visit  at  my 
office.  I  think  it  was  in  the  month  of  September,  1887.  I  pre- 
sume I  was  getting  off  one  of  my  bombastic  ideas,  when  all  of 
a  sudden  he  jumped  up  off  his  chair  and  stood  right  in  front  of 
me,  saying.  "Doctor  Gould,  do  you  know  what  I  think  of  you?" 
I  said,  "Xo.  but  I'd  like  to  know."  "\Yell."  he  said,  "I  think 
vou're  a  big.  bellowing  bull,  and  when  vou  can't  have  things 


DR.  H.  W.  GOULD  169 

your  own  way,  you  want  to  do  up  all  the  rest  of  the  bulls  on  the 
ranch.  I  think  of  all  the  old  egotistical  brutes  that  I  ever. met, 
it's  you.  You  put  me  in  mind  of  lots  of  these  old  scribblers  that 
write  for  spiritual  newspapers.  If  all  the  rest  of  the  world  don't 
think  just  as  they  do,  why  they  are  going  to  clean  up  and  do  up 
all  the  minds  that  are  in  the  spiritual  field,  because  they  don't 
think  as  they  do.  Now,  old  man,  I  feel  better  since  I  have  told 
you  what  I  thought  of  you."  Just  think  of  it,  a  little  urchin 
like  him  telling  Doctor  Gould  what  he  thought  of  him.  I  had  to 
laugh  right  out  and  said,  "You  are  not  anything  of  a  hypocrite, 
are  you?"  He  said,,  "You  just  bet  I  ain't.  I  got  tired  of  seeing 
you  roaring  around  like  an  old  bull  trying  to  break  down  a  fence 
and  get  at  another  one  who  defied  yon  to  come  on  his  side  of 
the  fence  and  that's  the  way  it  is  with  lots  of  these  old  spirit- 
ualists, who  think  they  know  it  all.  Haven't  you  got  brains 
enough  to  see  that  Spiritualism  is  progressing,  like  everything 
else  in  life?  Do  you  suppose  that  you  hold  it  all  in  this  old 
shanty  here?"  Just  imagine  him  calling  my  office  an  old  shanty, 
where  some  of  the  most  enlightened  minds  met  to  talk  things 
over,  and  especially  the  spiritual  philosophy.  He  said,  ''Xow. 
if  you  don't  behave  yourself,  I  shall  never  come  to  see  you  again." 
Well,  I  didn't  want  that  to  occur,  for  I  liked  the  little  chap  as 
he  had  given  me  some  very  fine  tests,  especially  one  wherein  he 
informed  me  that  I  held  in  my  possession  a  gold  locket  which 
contained  two  portraits,  that  of  a  man  and  a  woman,  which  he 
said  was  my  father  and  my  mother.  It  was  so.  Xo  one  ever 
saw  that  gold  locket,  for  I  carried  it  in  a  pocket  sewed  in  my 
undershirt,  and  I  know  no  one  could  have  told  him  of  such  a 
locket,  for  it  was  a  sacred  treasure  to  me  and  I  never  showed  it 
to  any  one.  He  said,  "The  man  of  whom  that  picture  is  made 
is  your  father,  and  I  think  he  is  the  most  positive  spirit  that  I 
ever  saw  in  my  life,  and  you  are  just  like  him.  you  old  duffer." 
What  a  compliment  that  was  for  Doctor  Gould  to  receive,  but 
nevertheless  it  was  a  truthful  one.  for  I  was  just  like  my  father 
in  everything. 

After  he  had  spent  his  fury  I  arose  and  took  both  his  hands, 
saying,  "Xow  Justin,  I  don't  want  you  to  become  very  angry 
with  me.  I  always  want  you  to  come  and  see  me  when  you  get 
in  from  the  mountains.  I  know,  Justin,  sometimes  I  become 


170         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

very  positive  and  talk  rather  rough,  for  I  am  always  in  the  habit 
of  having  my  own  way  with  every  one  but  you.  It  seems  as  if 
you  were  determined  to  break  in  through  my  ways  and  compel 
me  to  see  things  in  another  light."  He  said,  "Well,  don't  you 
know  that  old  dromedaries  have  to  wake  up  sometime  and  travel 
through  the  sandy  desert  until  they  discover  an  oasis,  a  green 
spot  in  the  desert,  where  they  can  sit  under  the  cool  shade  of 
the  palms,  collect  their  thoughts  and  sharpen  their  wits  for  the 
rest  of  the  journey,  you  old  lunk  head?"  I  then  grabbed  him 
in  my  arms  and  kissed  and  hugged  him,  saying,  "Little  One,  you 
are  a  major,  but  you  are  ahead  of  time."  He  took  me  to  task 
for  believing  what  a  certain  woman  claimed  was  truthful.  Well, 
I  might  as  well  out  with  it,  Colonel ;  I  mean  that  materializing 
woman  that  I  swore  by  and  who  got  considerable  of  my  money. 
Now  I  can  see  from  the  spirit  side  of  life  that  she  perpetrated 
some  of  the  worst  frauds  upon  me  that  she  ever  did  upon  any- 
one ;  she  worked  up  her  faking  business  so  artistically  that  I 
really  thought  it  was  all  genuine  materialization.  With  all  my 
positive  conceit  she  drew  the  wool  over  my  eyes  and  I  became 
her  victim.  I  then  told  the  Little  One  that  if  I  should  become 
rough  and  swear  some  to  take  no  notice  of  it  and  let  it  pass. 
He  promised  to  do  so,  but  his  visits  became  less  and  less  and 
then  finally  he  did  not  call  to  see  me  at  all,  which  made  me  feel 
bad.  You  know,  Colonel,  I  asked  you  several  times  why  he  did 
not  come  to  see  me.  I  had  my  mind  fully  made  up  that  if  we 
had  remained  friends  I  would  leave  him  my  library  of  books, 
but  he  ignored  me  entirely  and  I  left  them  to  another  party,  but 
I  am  sorry  I  did  so  for  I  do  not  think  they  appreciate  them  as 
he  would  have  done. 

I  merely  give  you  a  little  description'of  his  opinion  towards 
me.  I  saw  he  was  no  hypocrite  and  discovered  he  knew  how  to 
speak  his  mind.  I  made  a  visit  to  a  circle  in  San  Diego  since 
I  have  passed  to  spirit  life,  hoping  to  find  a  medium  through 
which  I  could  speak  to  the  friends.  It  was  a  failure — I  could 
find  no  such  medium,  but  I  heard  all  they  had  to  say.  There 
was  one  present  who  took  my  character  to  task  and  spoke  very 
bitterly  against  me,  saying,  "If  I  was  as  mean  and  stingy  a  spirit 
in  spirit  life  as  I  had  been  in  the  body,  they  pitied  the  spirits 
that  associated  with  me."  I  don't  see  whv  I  should  have  sriven 


DR.  H.  W.  GOULD  171 

my  property  to  the  Spiritualists'.  It  was  mine  and  I  had  a  right 
to  do  with  it  as  I  chose.  If  there  had  been  more  harmony 
amongst  them  I  no  doubt  would  have  helped  them.  So  they  need 
not  think  I  do  not  know  their  opinion  of  me,  for  I  most  assured- 
ly do.  Since  I  came  to  spirit  life  I  have  visited  three  circles  in 
San  Diego,  one  in  Los  Angeles  and  two  in  San  Francisco,  but 
I  never  controlled  any  medium  until  today ;  this  is  the  first  time. 
Their  expressions  about  me  were  anything  but  flattering.  They 
need  not  think  that  I  do  not  understand  now,  knowing  that  I 
was  an  old  fogy  in  Spiritualism.  I  can  see  it  all  clearly  now.  I 
was  behind  the  times  and  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  under- 
stand Justin's  sayings. 

Now,  Colonel,  I  want  to  tell  you  something  about  my  spirit 
existence.  I  did  not  find  the  spirit  world  as  mediums  had  rep- 
resented it  to  me,  but  I  found  it  a  most  natural  world,  more  so 
than  that  world  in  which  I  lived  in  a  physical  body.  As  I  see 
it  in  spirit  life,  all  have  to  work  out  their  own  condition  and  I 
am  at  work  at  mine.  I  found  all  very  natural  and  hard  at  work 
trying  to  become  more  spiritual  and  less  physical. 

Xow  I  am  going  to  give  you  an  idea  how  we  make  the  ex- 
change, leaving  the  physical  and  entering  the  spiritual.  Possi- 
bly you  know,  Colonel,  that  I  suffered  a  good  deal  before  I  left 
my  physical  body.  \Yhen  my  spirit  passed  from  my  physical  body 
it  seemed  as  if  I  fell  into  space  and  my  spirit  kept  going  down, 
down,  when  all  of  a  sudden  I  received  some  kind  of  a  shock,  then 
my  spirit  seemed  to  arise  again,  my  eyes  opened  and  I  looked 
upon  my  old  physical  body.  For  three  days  there  was  in  my 
head  a  roaring  and  a  babel  of  noises  like  the  rumbling  of  ma- 
chinery and  the  running  of  railway  trains  and  every  conceivable 
noise  that  could  be  made.  Then  I  commenced  to  collect  my 
thoughts  and  said  to  myself,  that  must  be  what  they  call  death. 
I  placed  my  spirit  fingers  upon  the  eyes  in  my  head,  that  is,  my 
physical  face,  and  found  they  were  cold,  with  no  animation  what- 
ever. I  walked  around  and  looked  at  my  body.  While  I  was 
doing  so  I  heard  a  voice  calling  my  name.  For  some  time  I 
could  not  see  the  individual  who  was  calling  me.  but  as  she  came 
closer  and  closer  my  sight  became  more  perfect,  when  finally  I 
saw  the  individual  who  was  calling  me.  I  laughed  for  joy  when 
I  discovered  she  was  an  old  schoolmate  of  mine  and  we  had  been 


172        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

sweethearts  while  living  in  the  body.  I  felt  proud  when  a  school- 
boy to  fight  her  battles  and  carry  her  books  home  from  school. 
As  a  spirit,  Colonel,  she  was  beautiful ;  her  merry  laugh  lit  up 
my  soul.  Then  she  said  to  me,  "Old  sweetheart,  now  young 
again,  when  you  have  worked  out  and  lived  down  some  things 
you  should  not  have  done,  I  will  then  come  for  you,  as  we  are 
spirit  mates.  Do  not  forget  I  will  always  be  near  you  to  help 
you.  When  you  have  paid  the  penalty  for  your  misdeeds  then 
you  can  come  and  live  with  me.  I  have  paid  the  penalty  for  my 
past  errors  and  shall  wait  until  you  have  done  the  same.  Then 
we  will  become  united  in  the  spirit  world  and  prepare  our  spirits 
for  reincarnation,"  for  you  know,  Colonel,  I  did  not  believe  in 
that  when  living  in  the  body,  but  she  has  taught  me  it  is  a  truth 
and  only  through  re-embodiment  can  we  become  perfect  in  spir- 
ituality. What  I  mean  by  being  perfect  in  spirituality  is  this : 
when  we  have  worked  out  our  earth  condition  thoroughly  and 
understand  the  meaning  and  principle  of  the  work  that  has  been 
laid  out  for  us  to  pass  through  and  accomplish  by  taking  on  dif- 
ferent bodies,  we  are  gaining  in  spirituality  and  in  spiritual 
knowledge  while  we  are  doing  all  this.  We  are  creating  and 
materializing  that  beautiful  expression  and  inner  thought  called 
the  conscience.  We  are  educating  ourselves  to  love  all  the  beau- 
ties in  nature  placed  there  by  the  conditions  of  others  and  our- 
selves for  we  are  the  electric  motion  of  all  life.  Wre  gain  an  as- 
cendency step  by  step  through  the  law  and  power  of  evolution. 
AYhen  we  were  only  the  little  mite  of  a  cosmos  in  sense  whose 
action  was  our  daily  guardian,  we  had  an  inkling  or  idea  that 
lived  in  the  midst  of  that  coarse  and  gross  surrounding  which  I 
call  plastic  arion.  By  that  I  mean  the  inability  of  our  chaotic 
condition  held  a  law  that  had  a  force  and  through  that  force  in 
our  life  condition  we  have  arrived  at  the  Arion,  leaving  the  plas- 
tic behind.  Our  self-assurance  will  teach  us  the  building  up  of 
all  the  spiritual  growth  that  is  within  us. 

I  find  here  in  spirit  existence  the  self  same  selfishness  that 
impregnates  the  whole  of  God's  children.  I  find  that  there  are 
many  who  are  wise  and  good  while  others  are  low,  degraded 
and  slothful.  I  have  not  seen,  so  far.  any  of  those  beautiful 
scenes  that  were  described  to  me  by  earthly  mediums,  or,  per- 
haps you  had  better  call  them  earthly  fakirs.  My  spirit  mate 


DR.  H.  W.  GOULD  173 

tells  me  when  I  have  progressed  far  enough  she  will  lead  me  by 
degrees  into  the  presence  of  elevated  spirits  whose  light  now  I 
could  not,  nor  would  not,  understand.  She  says  she  will  lead  me 
as  a  child,  as  she  had  been  led  into  the  presence  of  the  glories  of 
life.  It  will  come  by  slow,  passive  steps,  and  each  step  will  be 
an  arisen  thought,  called  "perfection's  love,"  which  leadeth  the 
whole  spiritual  creation  into  the  presence  of  glory's  nature, 
called  the  divinity  or  the  God  of  the  human  race.  Colonel,  I  have 
force  of  character  enough  to  get  there,  but  I  must  abide  my  time 
for  every  step  must  be  worked  out  by  perfection.  That  is  the 
step  that  overcomes  man's  conceit  and  laudation.  We  must  lay 
aside  all  egotism — all  man's  conceit  must  pass  by  and  be  buried 
in  oblivion.  It  is  only  through  the  true  light  of  Reason  and  the 
building  up  of  our  conscious  condition  that  we  can  gain  ability 
and  become  one  with  God.  What  I  mean  by  "God"  is  the  per- 
fection of  all  nature  which  holds  the  trinity  of  intellectuality, 
conscious  ability  and  spirituality  that  governs  all  life. 

Now,  Colonel,  I  could  give  you  the  names  of  many  in- 
dividuals who  inhabit  physical  bodies  posing  as  mediums  who, 
at  the  same  time,  are  some  of  the  worst  frauds  I  ever  met,  butl 
would  not  waste  your  valuable  time,  neither  would  I  waste  good 
paper  on  which  you  would  have  to  pen  their  names,  for  I  look 
upon  them  as  being  the  scum  of  the  earth.  While  at  the  same 
time  I  had  the  pleasure  while  living  in  the  body  of  having  many 
fine  sittings  with  genuine  mediums — God  bless  them.  I  hope 
the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  Spiritualism  will  be  weeded  out 
of  those  infernal  tares  and  frauds.  It  is  the  only  true  avenue 
through  which  you  can  learn  of  eternity.  You  might  have  all  the 
bibles  that  the  world  ever  produced,  place  all  their  religions  into 
a  revolving  cylinder  and  not  one  of  them  can  produce  a  genuine 
rap  that  comes  from  the  spirit  side  of  life — little  thinking  of  the 
great  force  or  manifestation  through  which  we  can  communicate 
to  our  friends,  called  the  entranced  mediums,  or  a  great  force  in 
nature  which  embellishes  all  Truth.  Sunlight  and  Reason,  that 
guides  you  to  the  portal  of  Eternity,  whereb}'  you  can  become  a 
dweller  in  spirit  life. 

Xo\v.  I  want  you  to  give  my  regards  to  Mr.  Meyer  and  Mr. 
High,  and  all  other  friends  that  would  like  to  hear  from  me.  I 
want  vou  to  take  a  big  share  for  vourself.  Colonel. 


174         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  leave  my  love  and  best  wishes  for  Justin.  Tell  him  there 
is  coming  a  time  when  true  mediums  will  be  worth  their  weight 
in  gold,  as  they  are  now,  did  the  people  understand  it. 

Now,  I  want  to  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communica- 
tion. Mrs.  Bushyhead  told  me  she  did  so  well  I  thought  I  would 
try  it. 

Just  put  me  down  as  Old  Gould,  the  miser.     Good  day. 


Thomas  Paine 

Chapter  XII 


Wednesday,  April.  1902. 

I  greet  you,  friend,  on  this  beautiful  sunny  day.  You  are  a 
friend  in  the  cause  of  liberty — that  is,  in  the  cause  of  thought, 
speech  and  progression.  The  power  of  evolution  is  constantly 
at  work,  and  you  are  riding  on  its  wave.  Permit  me  to  intro- 
duce myself  in  Searchlight  Bower.  I  am  he  whom  the  Christians 
call  "Old  Tom  Paine,  the  drunkard  and  infidel."  Possibly  you 
have  heard  or  read  of  my  name,  as  it  has  been  a  toothpick  to  the 
ministers  of  the  Christian  religion,  whereby  they  could  pick  out 
of  their  teeth  the  old  diabolical  lies  they  have  been  telling  for 
so  many  years,  and  the  hide-bound  superstition  that  they  force 
down  into  the  Christians  when  they  could  not  force  it  up  the 
other  way  into  their  heads. 

My  name  has  been  a  tickler  to  the  Christian  palate  in  order 
that  they  might  relish  so  much  their  brimstone  soup  in  the  good 
will  of  the  devil  that  they  love  so  much.  My  writings  have  been 
a  scorcher  that  did  them  up  brown  on  both  sides  so  that  the 
credulous  minds  of  the  Christian  world  could  partake  of  the  fatty 
substance  of  this  Jesus  of  Xazareth  dished  up  with  gravy  of 
prayers  and  catechism,  so  that  they  might  shake  and  wag  their 
weak  heads  that  held  within  their  mouths  the  tongue  of  derision. 
The  principal  part  of  their  lives  has  been  so  very  kind — con- 
stantly the}'  have  been  inviting  me  to  board  at  their  fashionable 
hotel  that  bears  the  fashionable  name  of  "Hotel  de  Glory" — in 
other  words.  "Hell,  Damnation  and  Brimstone."  They  say  that 
is  the  only  abode  fit  for  a  gentleman  of  my  quality  to  reside  in — 
I  being  a  heretic  and  blasphemer  of  the  worst  kind.  Thev  will 
see  that  I  am  fed  on  the  idiotic  brains  of  the  bigoted  ministers  ; 
they  will  provide  for  me  a  salad  made  up  out  of  the  wise  deluded. 


176        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

credulous  minds  of  their  followers ;  many  who  dare  not  think  lor 
themselves,  otherwise  they  are  afraid  they  would  wake  up  some 
morning  in  hell  if  they  did.  My  temper  and  bearing  with  the 
surroundings  of  the  Age  of  Reason  would  not  harmonize,  I  am 
afraid,  in  their  grand  palace  of  the  abode  of  the  blessed  called 
by  gentle  people,  ''Hell  Inferno."  I  have  no  desire  to  pass  my 
time  among  murderers,  thieves,  hypocrites  and  prostitutes  of 
the  worst  kind  that  are  the  prominent  boarders  of  that  fashion- 
able Christian  resort.  I  am  too  humble  to  be  exalted  to  the 
high  position  and  the  glorious  condition  through  which  such  de- 
luded hypocrites  who  are  constantly  under  the  condition  of  in- 
ebriation through  too  much  psalm  singing.  My  nature  is  such 
that  I  prefer  quiet,  gentle  people  who  sit  and  think  for  them- 
selves— their  emotion  is  not  constantly  stirred  up  by  a  popinjay 
show  of  religion.  AYise  and  thinking  minds  who  have  constantly 
seen  the  light  of  Truth  before  them  have  been  persecuted  in  all 
ages  by  a  class  of  people  that  stole  a  pagan  God  and  called  him 
Jehovah.  He  was  first  stolen  by  the  Jews  from  the  Syrians  and 
then  by  the  Christians  from  the  Jews.  That  Pagan  idol  fastened 
himself  so  upon  the  Christians  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them 
to  shake  him  oft".  You  see,  when  they  stole  him  he  had  three 
heads  which  looked  in  all  directions,  and  it  was  only  once  in  a 
while  that  one  could  escape  from  under  the  gaze  of  those  bleared 
eyes  of  that  idol  called  the  Christian  God.  But  human  nature  is 
waking  up  to  advanced  thought,  and  in  time  they  will  throw 
over  him  a  veil  with  such  a  dark  shadow  attached  to  it  that  he 
will  pass  into  oblivion  forever.  You  cannot  place  upon  the  hu- 
man mind  an  iron  helmet  with  an  iron  mask  attached  to  it ;  you 
cannot  screw  it  so  tight  upon  the  human  skull  but  Truth  will 
come  from  the  soul  and  mind  of  each  individual  in  time. 

Many  of  the  ministers  have  proclaimed  from  their  pulpits 
that  hey  knew  my  soul  was  in  Hell  enjoying  the  company  of 
their  old  friend. God  and  the  Devil,  for  he  is  both  to  the  Chris- 
tian heart.  When  the  brethren  of  the  blackcloth  fail  to  get  a 
good  subject  to  preach  on,  they  fall  back  on  old  Tom  Paine, 
where  they  see  him  roasting  in  hell  and  they  give  him  out  as  a 
great  warning  to  the  young  minds  in  order  that  they  may  not 
investigate  other  religions,  other  creeds  or  philosophies.  They 
tell  them  if  they  investigate  and  step  to  one  side  from  the  fold  of 


THOMAS  PAINE  177 

• 

Christianity  they  are  lost  sheep  and  must  pay  the  penalty  of  old 
Tom  Paine.  I  know  there  are  some  suffering  such  penalty,  and 
oh,  how  I  wish  there  were  more  that  could  suffer  like  I  do  in 
having  the  pleasure  of  visiting  mediums  such  as  I  now  control 
today.  It  is  a  glorious  penalty  that  I  am  always  willing  to  pay. 
In  1882,  in  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  I  gave  a  continuation  of  lec- 
tures through  this  medium  which  relieved  my  soul  very  much, 
as  I  expressed  m)  .houghts  just  as  I  wanted  to  do.  I  found 
his  forces  were  easy  to  control  and  I  laid  bare  before  the  people 
the  thoughts  of  my  mind.  I  gave  full  expression  to  my  soul's 
desire.  I  know  many  felt  highly  edified  in  listening  to  the  dis- 
courses whereby  they  said,  "How  comes  this?  They  say  this 
little  individual  is  not  well  educated  and  yet  he  demonstrates  to 
us  that  language  can  flow  out  of  his  mouth  as  water  does  from  a 
fountain."  Many  not  understanding  the  law  that  governs  spirit 
control  marveled  at  the  sayings  and  expressions  clothed  in  such 
beautiful  language,  as  they  called  it,  forgot  to  stop  and  think  it 
was  the  spirit  talking  and  not  the  medium.  The  spirit  was  play- 
ing upon  the  organization  which  gave  forth  vocal  sounds  clothed 
in  what  they  called  beautiful  language.  There  were  those  in  the 
audience  who  thought  the  lectures  very  radical  and  not  Christian- 
like.  I  found  the  medium  an  easy  subject  to  master,  therefore  I 
gave  full  force  to  my  thoughts.  I  am  one  that  always  believed 
the  naked  truth  was  much  better  than  a  lie  covered  up  with  a 
spangled  robe.  Many  of  the  people  in  Kansas  City  said  at  that 
time,  "Why,  that  person  is  in  advance  of  the  age.  Those  that 
are  left  in  the  physical  body  talk  among  themselves  when  they 
meet  at  their  homes  and  say.  "Ob.  how  we  could  enjoy  those 
lectures  now." 

Many  of  the  people  in  Kansas  City  lived  in  dread  of  John 
Hammond  controlling  the  medium  on  the  public  rostrum,  his 
sayings  were  so  radical  to  them.  Xow,  it  would  be  like  listen- 
ing to  an  angel — they  say  be  gave  them  so  much  truth  without 
any  high  coloring.  They  look  upon  bis  sayings  now  as  a  guide 
through  life.  We  only  understand  the  beauties  of  the  condition 
and  that  which  surrounds  us  when  we  have  arrived  at  a  ripe  old 
age.  Then  it  is  the  duty  of  every  individual  to  impart  the  truths 
and  sayings  of  a  truthful  guide  to  the  younger  generation  that 
thev  mav  build  a  solid  foundation  for  their  future  life  to  walk 


178         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

• 

upon.  Wise  men  and  women  are  stars  gliding  through  the 
human  family,  permitting  a  spark  to  lodge  here  and  there.  When 
the  common  every  day  mind  has  discovered  that  spark  radiation 
they  find  there  is  an  angel  light  guiding  them  to  the  higher  truths 
in  nature.  When  I  expressed  myself  through  the  law  of  common 
sense  I  discovered  a  spark  from  a  star  had  dropped  in  front  of 
me ;  the  radiation  illuminated  my  soul  in  such  a  manner  that  I 
caught  hold  of  my  pen  and  gave  the  "Age  of  Reason"  to  the  world 
while  in  action  the  divinity  that  was  within  me  was  expressed 
through  the  point  of  my  pen.  No  Christian  creed  could  hold  me 
down  then.  I  was  one  with  God  and  gave  his  thoughts  to  his 
children.  Life  said  to  me,  "Thomas  Paine,  you  must  brush  the 
scales  away  from  human  intellect  in  order  that  they  may  pene- 
trate into  the  higher  divinity  that  is  within  them,  for  that  will 
become  their  master  and  guide  them  into  the  true  walks  of  life. 
I  was  persecuted  by  the  majority  that  I  came  in  rapport  with, 
when  they  thought  they  could  not  attack  my  character  vile 
enough,  then  they  called  me  a  low,  drunken  beast — which  was 
an  infamous  lie  of  the  worst  kind,  as  I  was  a  temperate  man  on 
all  occasions.  The  preachers  only  told  that  to  people  that  had 
never  seen  me.  Finally  it  got  into  print,  and  like  many  other 
lies  made  out  of  whole  cloth,  it  was  looked  upon  as  a  fixed  fact 
by  people  that  never  came  in  contact  with  me.  On  my  death  bed 
they  said  my  suffering  was  something  terrible  to  behold,  and  that 
I  repented  at  the  last  and  accepted  Jesus  as  my  Saviour:  while 
others  said  in  print  that  I  merely  said,  "I  believed" — believed  in 
what?  In  a  miserable  fraud  fostered  on  the  people  by  priestcraft 
and  through  bloodshed,  burning  human  bodies  at  the  stake  to 
compel  them  to  say,  "I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  a  myth,  a  vam- 
pire worked  up  in  the  minds  of  fanatics."  If  they  would  give  to 
the  world  the  true  sayings  concerning  this  mythical  character. 
Jesus,  that  the  author  first  gave  to  the  world  they  would  hide 
their  faces  in  shame.  They  were  collected  and  buried  away  in 
the  Vatican  at  Rome. 

The  people  today  have  only  the  modernized  version  of  this 
myth,  Jesus,  which  gives  them  all  the  semblance  of  a  beautiful 
and  pure  character.  That  is  the  way  all  religions  will  be  modern- 
ized in  order  to  cast  out  all  the  immorality,  filth  and  debauchery 
of  the  past  priesthood  and  their  concubines.  People  today  de- 


THOMAS  PAINE  179 

mancl  moral  literature  and  they  are  going  to  have  it.  The  moral 
minds  of  the  world  will  no  longer  dwell  upon  the  fabrications 
and  lies  of  debauchery  such  as  that  hell-bound  God,  Jehovah, 
gave  them  in  the  Old  Testament.  Now  they  demand  a  cleaner 
God — not  one  that  is  besmirched  all  over  with  the  rotten  vomit- 
ings of  a  cursed  priesthood.  They  want  a  clear-cut  God — one 
that  can  stand  erect  and  is  well  formed  and  can  tell  the  truth 
on  all  occasions.  The  world  has  no  more  use  for  Christian 
angels  like  David,  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  that  beautiful 
character,  Lot,  and  his  two  dughters.  No  wonder  it  took  the 
Christin  world  so  long  to  progress  out  of  the  ditches  of  sloth  and 
corruption  and  bastardy  when  they  held  up  such  whoremongers 
and  polygamists  as  representations  of  religion  in  their  Old  Testa- 
ment dealing  constantly  with  Christian  divine  angels  as  David, 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  Lot  and  his  two  daughters.  They 
required  seasoning  for  the  human  race  to  gulp  their  lives  down, 
so  they  threw  in  the  old  woman  as  a  pillar  of  salt  to  be  sure  that 
they  were  well  seasoned.  No  wonder  virtuous  young  men  and 
women  fell  into  the  low  grooves  of  lust  and  debauchery  thinking 
they  were  lost  forever  and  that  hell  was  waiting  for  them.  As 
there  was  no  arm  stretched  forth  from  the  body  of  Jesus  to  clasp 
them  to  his  breast  they  went  down,  down  until  the  human  body 
became  so  gross  a  part  of  putrefaction  the  spirit  had  to  withdraw 
and  come  to  the  spirit  side  of  life  in  order  to  gain  knowledge 
through  which  they  made  the  discovery  that  all  religion  is  man 
made  and  forced  upon  credulous  minds  through  war  and  blood- 
shed. 

The  human  mind  in  its  early  stage  was  built  up  of  nothing 
but  superstition  and  became  the  victim  of  priestcraft.  Super- 
stition has  become  the  cause  of  rivers  of  blood  flowing  through- 
out the  planet.  All  religions  have  Gods  built  up  on  their  own 
design  that  have  the  look  of  both  human  and  brute.  A  woman 
dressed  up  with  a  great  headdress  upon  her  head — that  is  the 
conception  of  God.  A  man  who  is  fortunate  and  lucky  with  cof- 
fers filled  with  gold — that  is  his  God.  A  weak,  senseless  brain 
who  thinks  he  is  the  leader  of  fashion  and  wears  costly  garments 
— that  is  his  God.  As  he  has  no  true,  manly  ideas  located  in  his 
brain  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  for  him  to  understand  the 
God  of  Reason.  But  there  are  minds  that  have  been  developed 


180         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

through  the  law  of  Wisdom — they  see  God  in  all  nature.  They 
are  the  honest  men  and  women  of  our  daily  walks.  A  religious 
bigot  and  fanatic  understands  no  God  but  that  of  persecution  of 
another's  religion.  Their  mental  thought  is  at  such  a  low  ebb 
Wisdom  plays  no  part  in  their  makeup.  One  who  thinks  his 
church  and  sect  is  the  true  one  in  the  sight  of  God  has  a  tend- 
ency toward  a  lunatic  asylum  some  day ;  but  the  man  and  woman 
who  proclaim  there  is  no  God  higher  than  Truth  revealed  to 
them  throughout  all  Nature — such  individual's  dealing  will  be 
just  on  all  occasions.  The  God  of  fashionable  society  is  only  a 
bubble  that  can  burst  at  any  moment.  Aline,  with  many  others, 
is  the  God  of  Progression,  that  constantly  looks  at  a  true  light 
ahead  which  reveals  to  them  there  is  no  end  to  knowledge. 

We  will  continue  at  another  time.  I  have  held  the  medium 
long  enough  in  his  condition. 

Thursday,  April  17,  1902. 

Well,  brother,  I  am  the  causation  of  an  entrance  here  today 
— that  is,  I  brought  the  cause  and  effect  of  Thomas  Paine  into 
the  Searchlight  Bower,  the  controlling  spirit  of  this  occasion, 
who  has  entered  here  to  greet  you  on  Nature's  glorious  day — for 
it  is  a  beautiful  day,  sweet,  balmy  and  exhilirating.  The  man  or 
woman  that  would  find  fault  with  such  a  day  as  this  is  void  of 
all  reason,  and  we  should  put  them  down  as  an  imbecile  floating 
on  a  wave  of  ether  through  space,  awaiting  a  revolutionizing 
condition  of  brain  action  when  they  will  realize  that  the  love  of 
all  Nature  is  the  spirit  of  knowledge,  superior  to  all  man  made 
Creeds  or  demented  Holy  Ghost  appearances  in  weak-minded 
brains  that  must  become  developed  through  the  power  of  Reason. 

Now,  brother,  I  wish  to  relate  a  condition  that  took  place 
during  my  life.  It  was  an  instance  such  as  I  shall  describe.  I 
had  a  boy  companion  who  bore  the  name  of  Frederick  Whipple. 
We  were  very  much  attached  to  one  another — so  much  so  that 
our  thoughts  seemed  to  run  through  the  same  channel.  We  were 
both  pupils  under  the  same  master  and  constantly  in  each  other's 
society.  When  we  had  grown  into  young  manhood  his  parents 
prevailed  upon  him  to  join  the  church.  He  did  so  to  please  them. 
After  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  church  for  about  two  yeares 
his  actions  became  cold  toward  me — they  no  longer  held  that 
warm  affection  toward  me  that  they  had  done  previous  to  this 


THOMAS  PAINE  181 

time.  When  we  met  on  several  occasions  I  approached  him  on 
friendship's  footing,  but  his  greeting  was  cold  and  distant.  One 
day  while  we  were  walking  side  by  side  up  the  principal  street 
of  the  village  he  addressed  me,  saying,  "Tom,  let's  take  a  walk 
through  the  woods  and  we  will  go  and  sit  on  the  river  bank." 
As  we  were  walking  through  the  woods  I  thought  his  conver- 
sation became  more  animated  and  warm  than  usual.  When  we 
approached  the  bank  of  the  river  he  looked  at  me,  saying,  "Tom, 
you  don't  love  Jesus ;  I  am  going  to  drown  you.  You  are  a  her- 
etic and  must  die."  He  grabbed  hold  of  me  by  the  coat  collar 
and  dragged  me  toward  the  river.  We  both  struggled  hard — I 
trying  to  release  myself  from  his  grasp,  while  he  was  trying  to 
push  me  down  in  the  water.  All  of  a  sudden  we  both  slipped  and 
fell  into  the  water  together.  Our  struggle  was  a  hard  one  while 
in  the  water  and  in  consequence  we  both  received  a  good  bath. 
He  became  weak  and  letting  loose  his  hold  on  my  coat  he  would 
have  drowned  had  I  not  dragged  him  to  the  river  bank.  I  laid 
him  upon  the  grass,  when  he  swooned  away  into  an  unconscious 
condition.  I  could  not  assist  him  any  more,  as  my  strength  had 
also  become  weak.  There  we  both  laid  on  the  grass  with  our 
clothes  soaking  wet.  I  finally  went  to  sleep  from  sheer  exhaus- 
tion. When  I  awoke  I  discovered  I  had  a  raging  fever.  I  sat  up 
and  looked  on  the  friend  of  my  boyhood,  who  was  frothing  at  the 
mouth  and  seemed  to  be  laboring  under  some  kind  of  a  fit.  I  took 
my  shoe  off  and  crawled  down  to  the  water,  filled  it  with  water 
and  crawled  up  the  bank  again  to  my  friend.  Taking  my  hand- 
kerchief I  dipped  it  in  the  water,  bathed  his  face  with  it,  pouring 
the  remaining  part  of  the  water  in  his  mouth.  This  did  not 
seem  to  revive  him.  I  crawled  down  to  the  bank  twice  more, 
filled  my  shoe  with  water,  came  back  and  bathed  his  face  and 
hands,  pouring  a  portion  of  the  water  into  his  mouth.  The  ex- 
ertion was  so  threat  for  me  that  I  fell  into  a  swoon — or  I  should 
properly  say,  passed  into  a  swoon.  I  did  not  revive  from  that 
condition  until  some  time  in  the  night.  When  I  opened  my  eyes 
I  discovered  the  moon  was  shining  right  on  our  faces.  As  I 
tried  to  collect  my  senses  I  heard  a  low  mumbling,  like  one  talk- 
ing in  their  sleep.  I  looked  toward  my  companion.  He  laid 
there  talking-  in  a  very  low  voice.  I  crawled  over  to  his  side  and 
said.  "Fred  vou  are  sick  and  so  am  I."  He  said,  "Tom.  I  am 


182         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

dying.  God  has  punished  me  for  the  crime  that  I  attempted  to 
commit.  They  have  preached  so  much  to  me  about  your  con- 
dition and  what  a  dreadful  blasphemer  you  are.  Our  minister 
told  me  one  day  in  private  while  we  were  conversing  together 
it  was  the  duty  of  someone  to  put  you  out  of  the  way.  I  went 
home  and  prayed  to  God  that  he  might  find  your  heart  and  cause 
you  to  repent  from  your  wicked  ways,  as  I  thought.  You  see, 
Tom,  they  have  been  preaching  to  me  so  much  about  you.  My 
father  and  mother  and  many  others  told  me  you  were  the  wicked- 
est young  man  living.  I  kept  praying  to  God  to  have  mercy  on 
you  and  find  your  heart  so  that  your  soul  might  be  saved  from 
hell.  God  did  not  seem  to  answer  my  prayers  and  I  thought  I 
was  the  one  to  put  you  out  of  the  way.  That  is  why,  Tom,  I  got 
you  to  come  here  to  the  river  bank  that  I  might  strangle  you  in 
the  water  and  when  your  -body  was  found  the  verdict  would  be 
a  case  of  drowning.  Now,  dear  Tom  you  can  understand  how 
they  worked  upon  my  sensitive  nature  with  their  damnable  re- 
ligion and  would  have  cursed  my  soul  by  goading  me  on  to  mur- 
der you,  my  best  and  dearest  friend  that  ever  lived.  Now,  dear 
Tom,  do  you  think  that  you  can  forgive  me?  I  am  dying  and  I 
know  my  soul  will  go  to  hell,  for  they  have  cursed  it  with  their 
fanatical  ideas.  I  know  I  did  not  destroy  your  physical  body 
but  I  committed  a  murder  in  my  soul,  as  my  whole  wish  was  to 
put  you  out  of  existence — that  is  the  existence  of  this  mortal 
plane.  I  have  been  a  wicked  sinner,  Tom,  and  hell  is  waiting 
for  me.  The  preacher,  my  father  and  mother  and  others  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  damnation  of  my  soul." 

I  was  about  to  speak  when  he  said,  "\Yait,  Tom,  dear,  and 
hear  me  through.  Tom,  take  my  hand  and  hold  it  in  yours  as 
we  did  many  a  time  when  we  were  little  boys  and  happy  in  each 
other's  society.  Dear  Tom,  I  have  been  obsessed  by  a  devil  that 
had  taken  possession  of  my  soul — all  through  that  cursed  Chris- 
tian religion.  Xow,  clear  Tom,  tell  me  that  I  am  not  lost  to  your 
friendship,  although  I  know  that  I  am  lost  to  God."  I  could  not 
stand  it  any  longer  and  broke  in  by  saying,  "Dear  Fred,  listen 
to  me.  You  are  not  lost  to  God ;  none  of  his  children  are  lost  to 
him — that  is,  I  mean  the  God  of  Nature.  Nothing  is  lost  to  him 
that  he  has  ever  created.  Your  sensitive  feelings  have  been 
worked  upon  by  that  devil  in  sheep's  clothing.  Xow,  Fred,  dear, 


THOMAS  PAINE  183 

let  us  use  reason.  You  are  not  to  blame  for  the  cruel  act  you 
would  have  committed.  This  devil  that  told  you  I  must  be  put 
out  of  the  way,  being  such  a  terrible  infidel,  he  was  the  real  mur- 
derer at  heart.  You  were  only  his  tool  and  he  worked  upon  your 
credulity  in  order  to  get  you  to  commit  the  act.  It  is  he  who 
shall  pay  the  penalty  and  not  you,  dear  Fred.  It  is  such  minds 
as  yours  being  worked  upon  by  their  superstition  and  bosh  that 
become  unbalanced  and  such  as  you  fill  the  lunatic  asylums 
where  you  become  raving  maniacs  cursed  by  these  fiends  and 
their  work.  I  forgive  you,  dear  Fred,  with  my  whole  soul,  as  I 
see  things  in  a  different  light  from  what  you  do.  Now,  look  at 
me  with  your  eyes  and  read  what  is  in  mine  if  you  can.  I  forgive 
you  with  my  whole  soul,  for  you  must  know  the  eyes  are  the 
windows  of  the  soul.  Something  tells  me  you  are  not  going  to 
die,  but  you  are  going  to  live  and  give  the  expression  of  Truth  to 
the  world."  He  did  live  and  became  Whipple,  the  great  heretic, 
who  was  incarcerated  in  prison  in  England  and  died  a  martyr 
to  Truth. 

We  lay  there  upon  the  bank  of  the  river  in  our  dreadful  con- 
dition. The  next  day  two  boys  came  to  fish  in  the  river  and 
found  us  lying  there.  I  gave  one  of  them  a  piece  of  money  to 
go  and  hire  a  man  to  bring  a  cart  and  take  us  home.  He  did  so. 
One  of  those  boy's  name  was  Henry  Crane,  the  other  one's  name 
was  William  Fowler.  When  Whipple  grew  to  manhood  he  was 
cast  into  prison  for  talking  on  the  Unitarian  belief.  They  ac- 
cused him  of  being  a  thief,  which  was  a  lie  of  the  worst  kind. 
One  of  their  good  Christians  placed  into  his  pocket  another  man's 
watch  while  his  coat  hung  up  in  a  friend's  room.  He  was  ar- 
rested, accused  and  condemned  to  go  to  prison.  The  judge  be- 
ing a  Christian  bigot  sent  him  to  prison  for  twenty  years  where 
he  died  through  ill  health  and  being  confined  in  prison.  So  you 
see,  brother,  what  Christian  bigots  will  do  and  what  they  have 
done  to  foster  their  religion  on  the  human  race.  Whipple  and  I 
have  been  loving  brothers  in  spirit  life.  We  had  and  are  now 
preparing  our  condition  to  take  on  re-embodiment.  Whipple 
will  be  reincarnated  in  England  while  I  will  take  on  re-embodi- 
ment here  in  America.  When  we  become  boys  at  the  age  of  ten 
the  world  will  hear  from  us.  We  will  make  priestcraft  tremble 
in  its  socket.  As  we  grow  into  manhood  our  radical  condition 


184         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

will  increase.  We  will  place  Truth  before  the  world,  showing  up 
priestcraft  in  all  its  naked  deformity.  Our  followers  will  be 
numbered  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  will  enlist  in  the 
cause  for  the  benefit  of  Truth.  By  our  works  we  will  root  up 
superstition  and  destroy  it.  VV  e  will  both  live  to  be  over  a  hun- 
dred years  old.  During  that  time  we  will  pass  through  all  lands, 
destroying  superstition,  breaking  up  the  power  of  priestcraft, 
teaching  intellectuaf  minds  the  law  of  Reason,  whereby  they  will 
understand  the  governing  power  of  Evolution  throughout  the 
whole  universe.  In  the  first  part  of  our  work  we  will  be  perse- 
cuted much  and  they  will  try  to  destroy  us ;  but  as  we  shall  come 
to  earth  with  a  mission  it  shall  be  carried  out  to  the  letter  and 
our  banner  will  be  victorious  at  the  last.  We  shall  be  aided  and 
assisted  by  a  strong  spirit  power.  There  is  nothing  on  earth  that 
shall  stop  the  tidal  wave  when  it  once  commences  to  flow  in  and 
drown  out  superstition  and  all  man  made  religion.  In  fifty 
years  from  now  the  intellect  of  the  human  brain  will  be  so  great 
that  pulpit  parrots  shall  have  little  power  over  the  masses. 
Churches  will  be  sold  and  bought  by  classes  of  Spiritual  The- 
osophy.  The  young  mind  that  grows  up  through  the  develop- 
ment of  our  public  school  education  will  wonder  how  it  was  that 
their  ancestors  had  such  old  fossiled  minds  to  believe  in  such 
rubbish  as  was  preached  from  pulpits  and  covered  over  Dy  the 
spangled  show  of  priestcraft.  Little  do  the  Christian  masses 
think  how  that  old  pulpit  clown,  Talmage,  set  the  people  to 
thinking  by  slandering  my  character  and  tearing  to  pieces,  as  he 
thought,  my  writings  and  sentiments  that  I  gave  to  the  world. 
Since  he  attacked  my  name  and  character  there  have  been  more 
men  and  women  read  the  ''Age  of  Reason"  than  there  ever  were 
before.  He  was  the  means  of  converting  thousands  of  people  to 
freedom  and  progress  by  reading  my  works. 

The  Christians  do  not  seem  to  understand  when  one  of  their 
pulpit  parrots  attacks  and  slanders  an  individual's  character  that 
many  of  his  hearers  who  have  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to 
that  vile  attack  are  going  to  investigate  that  individual's  char- 
acter, and  of  course,  the  result  is  it  creates  the  thought  of  liberal- 
ity in  their  minds  when  they  have  discovered  the  whole  attack 
was  a  falsehood  of  the  worst  kind.  My  great  desire  is  that  the 
whole  body  of  priestcraft  will  attack  and  slander  my  character 


THOMAS  PAINE  185 

more  especially  my  works,  in  order  that  the  people  will  have  the 
courage  to  read  and  investigate  for  themselves.  We  are  con- 
stantly at  work  throwing  our  forces  upon  sensitive  ministers. 
You  can  see  by  their  written  articles  what  they  say  and  think. 
Oh,  brother,  the  dough  is  working  and  in  time  will  leaven  the 
whole  lump.  I  have  given  to  Emma  Rood  Tuttle  many  of  her 
thoughts  whereby  she  has  written  on  the  Horse  and  Dog  and 
given  out  her  whole  thoughts  toward  the  human  condition  of  the 
horse  and  dog.  They  are  the  faithful  servants  of  man  and  should 
be  protected  on  all  occasions.  Any  man  or  woman  that  will 
cruelly  treat  such  servants  lives  on  a  low  plane  of  humanity 
and  requires  much  spirituality  to  develop  them  out  of  that  con- 
dition. Every  cruel  blow  struck  an  animal  by  an  individual 
that  individual  must  pay  the  penalty  of  the  crime — for  it  is  a 
crime,  a  hineous  one  in  the  sight  of  justice  and  good  judgment. 
Any  man  or  woman  that  will  wilfully  beat  an  animal  lives  on  a 
degraded  plane  below  the  brute  animal,  for  they  have  not  yet 
acquired  the  good  judgment  that  that  -animal  can  display  on 
many  occasions.  The  Christian  religion  claims  that  their  God 
has  given  them  dominion  over  all  beasts  in  the  field  and  that 
they  shall  kill  and  eat  thereof.  Just  think  what  a  low  brute  their 
God  is  that  he  commands  they  shall  wantonly  kill  and  eat  flesh  of 
animals  to  gorge  their  human  stomachs.  I  wonder  if  he  ever 
stops  to  think  the  cruelty  and  pain  that  is  caused  by  his  com- 
mand. If  it  were  possible  there  should  be  a  hell  of  fire  and  brim- 
stone created  for  such  a  God  and  his  followers.  But  I  will  relent 
and  use  the  power  of  Reason,  take  back  the  words  and  cover 
them  with  a  mantle  of  charity. 

There  are  many  mediums  whom  I  influence  with  my  thought 
but  do  not  attach  my  name  to  those  thoughts.  Why?  Because 
they  would  not  like  the  world  to  know  thev  came  from  Tom 
Paine.  There  are  many  of  your  spiritual  lecturers,  also  those 
in  the  audience  that  have  not  removed  the  swaddling  bands  of 
Christianity  from  their  surroundings  and  are  not  ready  to  re- 
ceive Truth  in  all  its  purest  light ;  it  has  a  semi-condition  of 
harshness  to  their  superstitious  minds  that  have  been  filled  up 
by  the  blood  of  religious  gore.  Many  of  your  spiritual  papers 
want  to  be  on  the  popular  side  in  order  to  gain  a  large  number 
of  subscribers.  I  class  such  papers  with  merchants  that  are 


186        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

hypocrites  and  sycophants  of  the  worst  kind,  who  patronize 
churches  and  pay  money  into  their  coffers  whereby  they  may 
gain  popularity  by  drawing  to  their  establishment  devotees  in 
large  numbers  called  members  of  Christian  churches,  so  that 
they  may  become  rich  men  and  looked  up  to  for  their  wealth  and 
position  in  society.  Such  men  have  become  barnacles  attached 
to  the  ship  of  hypocrisy ;  but  there  comes  a  day  when  the  soul 
is  laid  bare  before  the  great  generator  of  life.  That  day  of  judg- 
ment will  be  the  cause  and  effect  Of  retribution  and  every  crime 
will  receive  its  punishment;  they  cannot  escape  it,  for  their 
conscience  will  become  a  living  hell  and  will  be  at  war  with  their 
higher  natures  until  their  soul  is  purified  of  all  such  lust  and 
crime  brought  on  by  the  gain  of  wealth  in  order  that  they  may 
be  looked  up  to  as  a  superior  person  to  their  fellow  brother — all 
the  time  forgetting  they  are  their  brother's  keeper.  There  is  a 
wise  record  kept  in  a  book  called  "Wisdom's  Religion."  When 
human  individuals  will  listen  to  its  pages  read,  Oh,  how  they 
will  whine  and  cringe  at  the  tale  that  record  tells.  When  the 
bells  of  Truth  are  ringing,  where  will  they  be  then?  Begging, 
pleading  and  asking  their  lowly  and  humble  brother  to  wet  the 
tips  of  their  fingers  in  the  chalice  of  mercy  and  forgiveness  and 
place  the  tips  on  their  tongue  that  has  lied  and  deceived,  made 
them  sycophants,  murderers  and  hypocrites — all  for  gold !  They 
murdered  the  innocent  and  pure  by  taking  their  life  blood  for 
work  done  not  sufficiently  paid  for.  Through  the  teachings  of 
their  religion  and  bogus  creed  they  cling  to  their  gold  as  they 
would  to  a  raft  in  shipwreck.  They  pray  to  God  and  their 
humble  brother  to  have  a  cooling  hand  laid  on  their  brain  that 
is  on  fire,  to  see  if  they  cannot  quench  their  misery  and  throw 
them  into  a  stupid  sleep  of  forgetfulness.  You  cannot  forget  the 
past — that  is  an  impossibility — for  your  crimes  stand  out  before 
you  as  there  is  a  warning  finger  pointing  at  you  proclaiming  the 
wages  of  sin  is  death  to  the  physical  body  and  brings  upon  your 
soul  a  punishment  until  you  have  liquidated  your  past  crimes  by 
going  in  your  spiritual  condition  and  becoming  the  servant  of 
those  whom  you  have  wronged,  as  in  spirit  life  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  an  escape  from  your  past  crimes. 

There  are  two  mediums  that  I  wish  to  name  through  whose 
brain  forces  I  could  give  full  play  to  my  thoughts  which  justified 


THOMAS  PAINE  187 

my  soul's  desire.  One  who  bore  the  name  of  Mrs.  Amelia  Colby 
and  this  little  medium  that  I  now  control.  I  felt  honored  through 
the  lines  of  Truth  that  I  could  give  to  the  hearers  present  at  the 
different  meetings  my  full  conviction  of  things  as  they  are.  I 
know  they  were  looked  upon  as  harsh  and  radical,  nevertheless 
they  were  facts  that  I  had  the  power  to  describe  through  their  or- 
ganization. I  was  always  in  my  glory  when  I  could  debate  with 
some  minister  or  other  individual  through  Mrs.  Colby's  medium- 
ship.  I  always  endeavored  to  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  and  I 
think  I  did  it  effectually. 

When  this  medium  whom  I  now  control  was  a  little  child, 
people  used  to  pray  for  him  to  pass  out  of  the  body,  that  the  devil 
might  take  him  to  hell,  for  that's  where  he  belonged.  Oh,  little 
did  they  think  he  had  a  great  part  to  play  in  the  Civil  War  of 
your  nation.  Those  who  sent  up  their  prayers  to  their  God  are 
now  in  spirit  life,  understanding  how  useless  those  prayers  were. 
He  has  lived  old  enough  in  the  body  whereby  his  hair  has  become 
white  with  age.  He  has  been  at  death's  door,  as  you  call  it,  a 
number  of  times.  The  spirit  was  not  ready  to  be  released  from 
the  body,  and  so  he  had  to  toil  on  again.  When  the  work  is 
finished  the  spirit  will  leave  the  body,  bidding  it  au  revoir — will 
take  on  the  new  birth  in  order  to  prepare  its  condition  for  re- 
embodiment,  as  there  is  a  large  work  in  preparation  for  it  in  the 
future.  I  will  now  thank  you,  brother,  for  taking  down  my 
communication.  I  will  leave  my  love  for  your  little  medium. 
Your  reward  will  come  for  the  work  you  have  undertaken.  I 
am  sincerely  yours  always,  Thomas  Paine. 

Friday,  May  2,  1902. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  I  make  you  a  call  on 
this  beautiful  morning  to  keep  my  promise.  As  I  was  leaving 
the  control,  or  in  other  words,  as  I  was  withdrawing  from  the 
medium's  forces,  you  asked  me  if  I  would  not  give  you  some  of 
my  experience  in  spirit  life.  I  said,  "At  another  time."  Today 
I  come  to  fulfil  that  promise. 

When  my  spirit  departed  from  the  material  body  the  first 
one  that  met  me  with  true  love  and  welcomed  me  to  the  spirit 
side  of  life  was  little  Lucille  Ware — a  beautiful  spirit  that  left 
her  body  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  and  three  months.  When 
she  lived  in  her  material  body  she  always  addressed  me  as  Uncle 


188 

Tom.  She  was  a  beautiful  girl  in  her  earth  embodiment  and 
more  so  as  a  lovely  spirit.  Her  soul  was  pure  and  beautiful  and 
as  she  welcomed  me  into  spirit  life  I  beheld  an  angel  of  beauty 
and  when  she  uttered  the  words  "Uncle  Tom"  a  thrill  went 
through  my  whole  spiritual  condition. 

Now,  let  me  relate  an  incident  that  took  place  in  the  physical 
body.  To  the  readers  of  your  book  no  doubt  it  will  appear 
simple  and  childish,  but  it  formed  a  bond  of  love  and  harmony 
between  Lucille  and  myself.  When  she  was  living  in  her  earth 
body,  the  physical  being  the  shadow  or  astral  of  the  real,  I 
formed  and  fashioned  for  her  a  doll — it  was  her  first  doll.  I  cut 
it  out  of  a  piece  of  wood  with  my  pocket  knife.  I  fashioned  and 
formed  it  in  the  resemblance  of  a  baby,  as  near  as  my  mechanical 
abilities  would  allow.  The  face  of  the  little  wooden  image  I 
painted.  She  says  she  had  three  other  dolls  given  to  her  after- 
wards but  loved  none  of  them  as  much  as  the  one  that  I  fashioned 
out  of  a  piece  of  wood.  Why,  I  relate  this  condition  to  you  is  to 
show  the  strong  attraction  we  had  for  each  other.  In  the  physic- 
al body  I  loved  the  child  Lucille.  She  loved  the  man  Thomas 
Paine.  The  wooden  doll  was  my  soul's  gift,  for  in  its  formation 
was  part  of  my  life.  On  the  spirit  side  of  our  existence  Lucile 
and  I  are  spirit  affinities.  That  is  why  she  was  the  first  to  re- 
ceive me  and  hold  toward  me  spirit  greetings. 

Now,  brother  and  friend,  I  wish  to  make  to  you  an  explan- 
ation of  the  spirit  side  of  life  and  the  earth  side  of  life.  The 
spirit  side  of  life  is  the  real  life.  It  is  the  reality  of  all  manifest- 
ations. Everything  is  perfected  on  the  spirit  side  of  life  before 
you  receive  it  on  earth.  The  earth  side  of  life  is  only  a  represen- 
tation of  the  perfect  manifestation.  This  condition  that  is  given 
to  you  on  the  earth  side  of  life  is  only  part  of  the  duality  of  life. 
That  is  why  you  do  not  exist  forever  in  a  material  body.  The 
material  body  is  a  shadow  of  the  real  spiritual  body,  for  you 
must  understand  the  soul  is  clothed  with  a  spiritual  body.  The 
soul  is  the  dual  while  the  spiritual  body  is  the  duality  and  that 
which  the  spiritual  has  thrown  off  forms  and  fashions  your  earth 
embodiment ;  that  is  why  your  earth  embodiment  is  only  part 
of  the  duality.  The  little  wooden  image  that  I  formed  and 
fashioned  was  just  as  much  a  part  of  the  duality  as  my  physical 
body,  because  in  that  piece  of  wood  I  had  placed  my  love  for  the 


THOMAS  PAINE  189 

child;  it  was  conveyed  to  her  through  the  attraction  she  had  for 
this  doll.  She  felt  the  power  of  my  influence  when  she  held  the 
wooden  doll  in  her  arms.  She  kissed  and  loved  it,  as  to  her 
childish  nature  it  went  out  in  all  its  power  and  strength  towards 
the  doll  I  had  fashioned  for  her.  We  had  formed  a  link  through 
that  condition  just  as  the  spiritual  and  the  physical  form  links 
of  love  for  each  other. 

The  child  Lucile  had  grown  into  womanhood  and  came  to 
greet  me  as  I  passed  over  the  borderland  into  spirit  existence. 
When  I  discovered  that  she  had  grown  from  the  child  into  the 
woman,  I  beheld  my  soul's  attraction.  All  the  love  of  my  soul 
went  out  to  that  beautiful  angel  of  light.  I  placed  my  hand  in 
hers  and  she  led  me  into  pleasant  paths  where  I  found  some 
friends  who  welcomed  me — Tom  Paine,  the  infidel,  so  called  by 
the  Christian  ministers.  I  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  my  spirit 
friends  understood  progression,  the  laws  of  evolution  and  the 
"Age  of  Reason."  Many  of  them  had  beautiful  homes  built  up 
by  their  works  of  generosity  to  God's  children  on  earth.  I  was 
surprised  to  see  the  beautiful  gardens  and  parks  laid  out  by 
minds  devoted  to  the  law  of  Wisdom.  I  said  to  my  friends  this 
must  be  Heaven.  They  said  it  was  the  Heaven  of  their  condition 
but  there  are  Heavens  more  beautiful  than  this.  I  said  it  looks 
impossible  there  could  be  anything  more  beautiful  than  this. 
A  beautiful  spirit  came  toward  me,  taking  my  hand  and  said, 
"Friend  Paine,  when  you  understand  the  perfection  of  your  own 
soul  those  beautiful  flowers  that  you  now  behold  will  look  like? 
weeds ;  they  suffice  for  your  present  condition."  I  asked  them 
if  they  did  not  do  any  other  work  but  attend  to  the  gardens  and 
parks.  They  said,  "Oh,  yes ;  we  are  constantly  at  work."  I  said, 
"In  what  way  do  you  work?"  Their  answer  was,  "We  furnish 
thought  for  the  human  brain  and  perfect  that  which  you  call  on 
earth  a  wonderful  discovery." 

When  we  have  created  something  here — for  you  know  we 
have  the  power  of  creation,  being  one  with  God — we  receive  in- 
struction from  that  great  principle  that  the  human  mind  calls 
God.  How  do  we  receive  there  instructions  you  would  ask,  no 
doubt.  We,  being  part  of  this  great  principle,  assist  in  creation 
through  this  power  of  creation  and  coming  in  perfect  rapport 
with  it.  we  receive  our  instructions.  That  great  light  that  is  con- 


190         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

stantly  filled  with  thought  penetrates  our  brain,  then  our  intellect 
is  illuminated  by  that  great  force  or  power  that  you  would  call  a 
generator  which  is  in  reality  an  aspirator,  for  it  is  through  the 
power  of  aspiration  we  receive  thought,  as  we  are  constantly 
fed  by  aspiration,  things  shape  themselves — for  you  must  know, 
thoughts  are  things.  When  this  thing  has  shaped  and  demon- 
strated to  us,  then  we  know  creation  has  taken  place,  for 
through  the  law  of  aspiration  the  great  generating  power  spreads 
out  at  a  great  light  and  through  that  light  we  perfect  here  in 
spirit  life — or,  as  you  would  call  it  in  your  earth  condition,  in- 
vention. We  had  invented  something  that  we  know  would  be 
beneficial  to  those  living  in  physical  bodies.  We  look  around 
and  discover  a  brain  through  which  we  can  give  the  invention 
for  the  benefit  of  those  on  the  earth  side  of  life.  "Thomas 
Paine/'  said  a  spirit  that  stepped  toward  me,  "I  was  the  monitor 
and  power  that  gave  through  your  brain  my  sentiments  and  ex- 
pressions to  the  world.  When  I  lived  in  a  physical  body  I  was 
of  the  Jewish  belief  and  spoke  the  Hebrew  tongue.  My  name  was 
Caliph  Solomon.  Before  I  left  my  earth  embodiment  I  under- 
stood the  true  sense  of  spirit  return.  After  I  came  here  I  made 
the  discovery  that  all  the  religions  on  earth  emenated  from  the 
brains  of  man.  Man  naturally  being  a  sensitive  looked  into  the 
realms  of  superstition  to  find  something  to  lean  upon.  In  his 
imagination  he  created  that  something,  called  it  God  or  Jehovah, 
gave  it  out  to  the  credulous  mnds  that  surrounded  him  that  he 
communicated  with  a  God,  which  was  a  mythical  idea  that  he 
had  formed  and  fashioned  in  his  brain.  In  order  that  this  God 
idea  should  take  a  fast  hold  upon  his  listeners  he  claimed  to 
have  the  power  of  receiving  revelations  from  this  mythical  God. 
He  did  not  lie  entirely  to  those  individuals. 

"On  this  side  of  life  you  will  understand,  Thomas  Paine, 
there  is  a  class  of  spirits  that  are  always  ready  to  feed  just  such 
brains  with  mythical  thoughts.  Do  you  not  see  just  through 
what  condition  the  different  Gods  have  been  forced  upon  the 
people?  When  I  made  that  discovery  my  whole  desire  was  to 
find  a  sensitive  through  whose  brain  I  could  give  my  thoughts 
to  the  world.  I  am  the  author  of  those  works,  you  were  merely 
the  instrument  and  led  by  me  through  your  earth  embodiment." 

So    you    see,    brother    and    friend,    those    thoughts    did    not 


THOMAS  PAINE  191 

originate  with  me.  My  brain  forces  were  acted  upon  by  another 
individual ;  through  that  condition  I  gave  to  the  world  "  The  Age 
of  Reason"  and  other  writings.  This  individual  said,  "Come  with 
us  and  we  will  show  you  how  harmony  is  created  and  formed." 
I  went  with  them  to  a  beautiful  temple  and  after  we  had  been 
there  I  should  think  about  an  hour,  by  your  time,  all  the  spirits 
stood  up  holding  instruments  in  their  hands  which  I  discovered 
were  musical  instruments — some  were  fashioned  like  harps  and 
others  quite  artistic  in  their  makeup.  I  noticed  all  had  strings, 
none  of  them  being  wind  instruments.  Some  of  them  had  more 
strings  attached  to  them  than  others.  But  first  let  me  tell  you 
before  the  spirits  had  taken  those  instruments  into  their  hands 
the  male  and  female  spirits  met  in  the  center  of  the  temple,  kis- 
sing each  other  upon  the  forehead,  then  they  would  hold  each 
other's  hands  for  awhile.  They  did  this,  I  should  judge,  for 
about  fifteen  minutes,  when  all  glided  to  their  places,  and  taking 
up  their  instruments  they  held  them  in  front  of  them.  After  do- 
ing so  I  could  hear  something  strike  upon  the  strings  of  their 
instruments.  After  a  while  I  could  hear  sounds  like  notes.  In 
the  center  of  the  temple  lay  a  large  stringed  instrument.  After 
hearing  those  notes  upon  the  different  instruments  they  passed 
through  space  and  became  located  on  the  strings  of  this  large 
instrument,  which  after  a  little  would  give  forth  powerful  musi- 
cal notes.  The  spirits  stood  there  holding  their  instruments  for 
about  six  hours.  During  the  time  I  could  hear  faint,  light  notes 
struck  upon  their  strings  which  was  conveyed  instantly  to  the 
large  instrument.  After  they  had  done  this  for  about  six  hours 
their  instruments  were  swayed  to  and  fro  as  if  the  wind  was 
playing  upon  them.  The  notes  many  of  them  were  beautiful 
such  as  I  am  not  capable  of  describing.  They  all  placed  their 
instruments  upon  the  floor  of  the  temple,  taking  each  other's 
hands  they  surrounded  the  large  instrument  in  the  center  of  the 
temple.  Their  spiritual  bodies  commenced  to  sway  to  and  fro 
as  if  played  upon  by  the  wind,  when  all  of  a  sudden  they  became 
motionless.  Immediately  this  large  instrument  gave  forth  the 
grandest  music  I  ever  heard.  It  was  so  grand  the  beauties  of  it 
and  harmony  that  it  produced  is  beyond  my  power  to  describe. 
Its  notes  were  so  deep,  rich  and  musical  it  just  appeared  to  me 
and  at  the  same  time  struck  mv  senses  that  all  the  elevation 


192 

and  beauties  of  music  laid  in  those  rich  notes;  some  of  them 
were  so  sweet,  so  soothing  and  harmonious  to  rny  ear  I  felt  as  if 
I  were  floating  away  off  into  the  regions  where  nothing  but  music 
dwelt ;  the  cadence  and  rhythm  of  everything  seemed  to  be  per- 
fect. All  of  a  sudden,  the  instrument  stopped  playing  and  I  was 
brought  back  to  rny  spiritual  condition,  awaking  to  the  realiz- 
ation that  I  was  in  the  presence  of  God  and  creation.  When  I 
understood  that  I  was  Thomas  Paine  again,  the  instrument  com- 
menced to  play  more  powerful  than  ever.  The  spirits  sang  the 
music  as  I  had  never  heard  singing  before.  When  they  had 
finished  singing  they  all  glided  back  to  their  places  again,  and 
taking  up  their  instruments  they  commenced  to  move  their 
fingers  along  the  strings  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  great  musical 
harmony  seemed  to  vibrate  from  the  strings.  The  large  instru- 
ment in  the  center  of  the  temple  gave  forth  powerful  music  of 
a  deep,  rich  condition.  Then  the  spirits  commenced  to  sing  and 
dance,  playing  on  their  instruments  all  the  while — dancing  in 
and  out  through  each  other  in  a  circle  around  the  temple.  All 
of  a  sudden  they  stopped  their  dancing  and  playing  and  singing, 
and  laying  down  their  instruments  on  the  floor  they  glided  tow- 
ard the  large  instrument  in  the  center  of  the  temple,  and  as  each 
spirit  passed  it  they  permitted  their  fingers  to  glide  down  the 
strings,  and  Oh !  such  heavenly,  perfect  music  I  never  heard 
before.  The  whole  beauty  of  the  condition  lay  in  this  yart  of  it, 
which  I  will  now  describe  :  As  each  spirit  stepped  up  to  the  in- 
strument and  permitted  his  fingers  to  glide  along  its  strings  each 
produced  a  rich,  harmonious  music  that  blended  with  the  soul 
of  everyone  present,  but  each  blending  was  entirely  different  to 
that  which  the  other  spirit  produced.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  each 
spirit  produced  all  the  melody  there  could  be  in  life  and  as  the 
notes  vibrated  through  space  it  seemed  to  me  I  was  living  in  a 
dream  of  bliss. 

All  the  wisdom  of  spirit  life  and  the  earth  side  of  life  was 
personified  through  each  spirit's  condition  while  bringing  forth 
notes  from  that  instrument.  After  they  had  all  finished  permit- 
ting their  fingers  to  glide  down  the  strings,  the  great  instrument 
burst  forth  with  a  great  melody  of  music  in  which  all  the  notes 
the  spirits  had  produced  blended  into  one  great  note  which  it 
would  be  impossible  to  describe.  From  that  great,  heavenlv 


THOMAS  PAINE  193 

note  radiated  an  emanation  of  music  beyond  the  imagination  of 
mortal  ken.  I  stood  and  cried  like  a  child  when  my  angel, 
Lucille,  came  and  took  my  hand,  saying,  "Thomas,  dear,  this  is 
the  way  we  get  our  harmony.  We  perfect  it  from  out  the  at- 
mosphere, as  you  see  our  temple  has  no  roof,  but  space — which 
I  had  not  discovered  before  until  she  had  called  my  attention  to 
it.  I  said,  ''What  becomes  of  all  this  grand  music?"  A  venerable 
spirit  came  forward  and  said,  "Thomas  Paine,  each  spark  of  music 
that  you  saw  floating  through  space  caused  by  the  power  and 
radiation  of  that  instrument  goes  earthward  floating  in  space 
until  it  glides  and  enters  into  some  musical  brain.  The  melody 
that  you  heard  on  earth  produced  by  that  musical  brain  living 
in  an  earth  body  was  one  of  the  notes  radiating  from  this  heav- 
enly instrument  which  was  multiplied  into  many  earth  notes 
produced  through  the  faculty  of  that  musical  brain — that  musical 
brain  is  born  with  time  and  musical  scintillation,  but  all  harmony 
originates  here  first  with  us,  as  you  have  seen."  I  said,  "Friends, 
the  harmony  of  God  is  wonderful."  Just  as  we  were  about  to  de- 
part from  the  temple  this  great  instrument  commenced  to  play. 
Oh,  such  a  soothing  piece  of  music,  and  as  we  went  on  our  ways 
we  felt  that  the  great  creator  of  life  and  music  dwelt  in  our  souls. 
I  went  with  Lucille  to  a  beautiful  home  where  friends  greeted 
us  from  every  side,  and  I  felt  that  the  curses  of  the  Christian 
pulpit  parrots  had  no  effect  on  my  future  life. 

We  will  continue  it  brother  at  another  time,  as  I  have  held 
the  medium  long  enough,  so  the  band  says. 

Saturday,  May  3,  1902. 

The  joy  of  the  morning  brings  me  to  your  home.  It  is  so 
bright  and  beautiful  without.  Xo  wonder  the  birds  love  to  sing 
in  your  woodland  park — -the  air  is  so  invigorating  that  all  of 
Xature's  creation  must  feel  it.  Just  think  of  the  millions  of 
pounds  of  healing  balm  floating  through  space  here  in  your 
mountain  dell.  Searchlight  was  wise  when  she  named  your  home 
Searchlight  Mower.  Human  beings  could  not  ask  for  anything 
more  beautiful  than  this  home  under  the  great  live  oaks,  Just 
think  of  the  millions  and  billions  of  wealth  in  those  mountain 
recesses  that  are  all  around  you  in  every  direction.  The  band  of 
the  medium  understood  what  they  were  doing  when  they  selected 
this  place  in  the  mountains  for  your  home.  In  the  quietude  lies 


194        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

heaven.  In  its  beauty  lies  wealth  and  health.  In  the  distant 
prospect  lies  the  admiration  of  the  soul  and  our  all  is  angelhood. 

Now,  we  will  take  up  my  condition  in  spirit  life.  When  we 
had  reached  the  home  that  I  was  invited  to  tarry  in  while  sitting 
and  conversing  with  each  other  under  the  dome  of  intellect  and 
true  life,  a  large  number  of  female  spirits  passed  by,  dressed  in 
a  plain  gray  garb.  Some  of  their  faces  were  beautiful,  while 
others  were  pale  and  sad.  I  said  to  my  spirit  mate,  "Why  do 
those  females  wear  such  drapery  as  that?"  She  said,  "Dear 
Thomas,  those  female  spirits  while  living  in  an  earth  body  were 
led  astray  by  men  and  women  of  their  own  sex.  They  led  a 
shameful  life — living  in  dens  of  infamy  and  vice — many  of  them 
were  deserted  by  wretched  men  that  had  brought  on  their  con- 
dition. They  did  not  seem  to  have  the  power  to  withstand  the 
blight  and  shame  that  had  been  brought  upon  them.  Their 
womanly  courage  was  not  equal  to  the  task  to  bring  them  up  out 
of  that  condition  and  so  they  sank  lower  and  lower  until  some 
of  their  spirits  passed  from  their  bodies  in  houses  of  prostitution 
at  the  same  time  other  spirits  were  passing  away  in  hospitals  and 
prisons  from  their  diseased  and  degraded  bodies.  But,  clear 
Thomas,  there  is  another  side  to  the  question.  Many  of  those 
women  were  abandoned  by  their  parents  and  friends  in  the  hour 
of  their  disgrace  and  trouble  when  those  parents  and  friends 
should  have  thrown  around  them  a  mantle  of  charity  and  pro- 
tected them  from  the  insults  of  the  vulgar  outside  world.  They 
are  on  their  way  now  to  enter  those  houses  of  shame  in  order 
to  impress  many  of  the  inmates  to  abandon  their  lives  and  be- 
come moral  women.  They  also  come  in  close  touch  with  the 
grand  women  that  are  missionaries  in  such  work.  They  assist 
them  with  all  their  spirit  power  in  such  work  ;  as  the  work  goes 
on  and  they  are  the  means  of  redeeming  many  of  their  fallen 
sisters,  their  garments  become  whiter  and  brighter. 

"Look  there,  clear  Thomas,  at  those  beautiful  female  spirits 
approaching.  See  what  a  beautiful  halo  of  light  surrounds  them  ! 
Those  female  spirits,  clear  Thomas,  have  been  redeemed  by  the 
generosity  of  their  natures.  They  have  given  all  the  love  of  their 
souls  to  their  fallen  sisters.  At  one  time  they,  too,  wore  the 
gray  garb,  but  now  you  see  they  are  angels  of  light.  They  have 
worked  out  their  condition  and  become  purified  through  their 


THOMAS  PAINE  195 

love  for  others.  They,  too,  are  on  their  way  to  fill  the  soul's  of 
their  sisters  with  the  holy  love  of  God.  Their  sisters  who  live 
in  earth  bodies  become  beautiful  women,  wives  and  mothers  by 
receiving  into  their  souls  the  holy  thoughts  planted  there  by 
those  beautiful  female  spirits — they  give  their  whole  life  for  the 
elevation  of  the  human  race."  I  said,  "Dear  Lucille,  how  perfect 
everything  here  seems  to  be."  She  said,  "Ah,  dear  Thomas, 
there  is  much  misery  to  behold  in  spirit  life  and  I  will  lead  you 
to  where  you  can  look  upon  them."  I  said,  "Dear,  lead  me.  I 
want  to  see  and  understand  all  that  I  am  capable  of  comprehend- 
ing." We  started  on  our  journey — for  you  must  understand 
that  time,  as  you  look  upon  it  in  your  earth  bodies,  is  of  very 
little  consequence  to  us  in  spirit  life. 

We  wandered  through  many  beautiful  gardens,  when  finally 
we  entered  a  long  stretch  of  woodland.  It  was  the  most  perfect 
park  of  trees  and  shrubbery  I  ever  saw.  After  we  had  gone  a 
long  ways  she  said,  "Now,  we  will  turn  to  the  left,  for  on  the  left 
is  where  all  evil  dwells."  We  walked  along  a  beautiful  path, 
and  after  we  had  gone  quite  a  ways,  all  of  a  sudden  I  beheld  a 
peculiar  looking  atmosphere — it  looked  to  me  like  a  heavy  mist 
or  fog,  I  could  not  tell  which  just  then — but  as  we  drew  closer  to 
it  I  discovered  it  was  a  dense  atmosphere  in  which  it  was  hard 
for  one  to  breathe.  When  we  had  reached  the  edge  of  a  precipice 
it  took  my  eyes  some  time  to  penetrate  into  that  gloom  of  dark- 
ness when  I  beheld  a  writhing  mass  of  human  beings.  That  is, 
a  multitude  of  spirits  that  once  lived  in  human  bodies.  In  the 
center  of  the  multitude  of  people  was  a  large  body  of  male 
spirits  that  seemed  to  be  corralled  all  together,  as  you  would 
corral  a  lot  of  stock.  The  great  concourse  of  people  that  sur- 
round them  acted  as  if  they  were  tormenting  them  through  some 
mode  of  punishment.  They  seemed  to  vilify  their  names  and 
spit  at  them.  I  said  to  my  spirit  mate,  "What  does  all  this  mean? 
I  fail  to  discover  why  they  have  all  those  men  corralled  in  the 
center.  What  does  it  all  mean?"  She  said,  "Listen,  dear 
Thomas,  and  I  will  give  you  an  explanation  of  what  you  now  be- 
hold. Those  men  in  the  center  when  they  lived  in  physical  bod- 
ies on  earth  posed  before  the  human  race  as  priests  and  ministers 
— claiming  to  be  servants  of  God.  Many  of  them  were  rascals  of 
the  worst  kind,  while  others  were  sons  and  possibly  what  you 


196        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

might  call  favorite  sons  of  their  mother's  and  it  was  their  moth- 
er's desire  that  they  should  become  priests  and  ministers — their 
mothers  lacking  that  perfect  wisdom  and  true  knowledge  to 
understand  whether  their  sons  were  fit  for  such  a  position  or  not. 
It  was  their  desire  that  their  sons  should  become  priests  and 
ministers — so  called  vicegerent  servants  of  this  Jewish  God, 
Jehovah.  They  were  forced  into  this  profession  to  become  liars 
and  criminals  of  the  worst  kind ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  if  they 
had  been  permitted  to  take  their  own  path  through  life  they 
might  have  become  honorable  men  of  high  standing  in  society. 
Others  were  marked  in  their  mother's  womb — she  being  a  re- 
ligious fanatic  and  a  church  bigot  of  the  worst  kind,  living  under 
the  excitement  of  religious  revivals.  She  brought  a  curse  upon 
her  child,  which  I  will  explain  to  you  presently.  The  majority 
of  those  men  and  women  that  you  see  trying  to  persecute  those 
corralled  servants  of  God  were  inmates  of  madhouses  and  insane 
asylums  through  the  condition  of  religious  revivals  brought  on 
by  those  religious  fanatics  that  worked  on  the  credulity  of  those 
poor  weak-minded  creatures,  telling  them  that  there  was  a  lake 
of  brimstone  and  hell  of  everlasting  burning  fire  awaiting  them 
if  they  did  not  come  to  Jesus,  as  they  were  all  born  sinners  and 
could  not  escape  the  wrath  of  God.  'Now  is  the  time  and  hour, 
repent  and  come  to  Jesus  and  ye  shall  be  saved.'  Many  of  the 
poor  weak-minded  dupes  could  not  find  Jesus,  as  he  always 
seemed  to  be  away  off  to  them ;  thinking  much  on  that  condition 
they  were  afraid  to  go  to  sleep  at  night,  living  in  dread  of  waking 
up  in  hell.  That  condition  in  time  would  excite  their  reasoning 
powers  and  that  organ  would  become  unbalanced — that  is,  if 
they  were  ever  endowed  with  an  intelligent  reasoning  power.  If 
they  did  not  have  that  organ  on  a  square  basis  the  result  was 
they  became  inmates  of  a  madhouse.  When  their  spirits  left 
their  body  and  they  reached  this  side  of  life  their  great  desire 
became  to  find  that  villain  that  had  upset  what  little  reason  they 
had  by  his  lies  and  misrepresentations  that  led  the  physical  body 
to  its  destruction  through  a  misconceived  idea  of  theirs — feeling 
it  was  their  duty  that  they  must  tell  the  people  the  only  way 
they  could  be  saved  and  come  to  God  was  through  that  Jewish 
mvth  of  theirs.  That  is  why  you  see  those  individuals  persecut- 
ing those  misguided  men,  but  the  great  power  of  life  is  ever  for- 


THOMAS  PAINE  197 

giving  and  will  bring  them  out  of  that  condition  in  time.  You 
see  they  cannot  go  but  just  so  far  in  their  persecution  toward 
those  misguided  men.  This  great  intelligence  that  governs,  rules 
and  directs  everything  in  life  allows  them  to  go  so  far  and  no 
further,  for  the  great  boon  of  life  is  the  teacher  and  saviour 
of  the  human  race,  through  re-embodiment  they  receive  an  edu- 
cation through  intellectual  and  physical  instruction  which  quali- 
fies them  in  time  to  become  whole-souled  men  and  women  un- 
derstanding the  law  of  Truth  and  Justice.  In  time  they  will  live 
in  beautiful  homes  like  the  home  I  led  you  to.  They  can  only 
dwell  in  such  an  abode  when  their  generous  works  have  devel- 
oped them  fit  to  abide  therein.  This  dark  shadow  that  you  now 
behold  with  your  eyes  have  penetrated  into  the  depth  to  see  the 
misery  therein  will  be  lifted  from  off  these  spirits  some  time. 
That  time  will  be  when  those  men  that  you  see  corralled  there 
will  cry  out  for  the  God  of  Truth  and  Justice  to  enter  their  souls 
and  forgive  them  for  their  misguided  life — for  Truth  is  the  only 
real  religion  there  is  in  the  universe.  When  that  Truth  enters 
their  soul  and  they  become  humble  beings  in  the  presence  of  the 
great  Intelligence  of  Life  and  kneel  on  their  bended  knees,  ask- 
ing their  persecutors  to  forgive  them  as  now  they  understand 
the  law  of  Reason,  and  wish  to  be  forgiven,  as  they  feel  it  is 
their  duty  to  ask  forgiveness  as  the  real  God  of  Love  has  entered 
their  souls,  they  will  be  forgiven  and  they  and  their  persecutors 
will  rejoice  in  singing  a  song  of  praise  to  the  great  revelator  of 
all  time — for  through  this  .revelation  the  scales  will  fall  from 
their  eyes  that  hid  the  true  sight  of  God  from  their  souls  while 
they  were  held  under  the  power  of  superstition  and  priestcraft. 
Now  looking  at  all  things  and  understanding  all  things  through 
the  law  of  Reason  their  souls  will  be  filled  with  joy.  Then  this 
veil  of  darkness  will  be  lifted  from  off  their  condition.  They 
will  come  forth  into  the  true  light,  hand  in  hand,  crying,  'Reason 
is  our  God  and  we  are  one  with  God  through  eternity.'  The 
divinity  that  we  find  in  that  God  and  in  ourselves  is  the  forgive- 
ness and  love  that  laid  dormant  in  our  natures  has  shown  the 
true  light  for  all  time.  We  are  our  brother's  keeper,  as  this 
great  power  is  our  father  and  mother,  and  will  keep  us  in  the 
moral  paths  of  virtue  through  all  time." 

Then  she  said  to  me,  "Come,  dear  Thomas,  and  I  will  show 


198         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

you  another  phase  of  spirit  life."  We  walked  along  a  beautiful 
path  until  we  came  to  a  precipice  overlooking  a  low  lying  valley, 
and  such  a  strange  sight  as  I  there  discovered !  I  could  not 
think  it  were  possible  for  eyes  to  look  upon.  I  placed  my  hand 
over  my  eyes  and  groaned  out  the  words,  "Oh,  God !  can  it  be 
possible  that  such  things  are?"  When  I  withdrew  my  hand  I 
beheld  a  terrible  sight  to  look  upon.  There  were  spirits  that  once 
lived  in  human  bodies  walking  around  on  their  hands  and  feet 
shaped  like  animals  with  human  faces.  Oh,  the  agony  and  ex- 
pression of  those  human  faces  was  terrible  to  look  upon — they 
were  kicking,  biting  and  beating  each  other.  Some  would  howl 
and  bark  like  dogs,  all  the  time  frothing  from  the  mouth.  It 
looked  to  me  as  if  their  life  must  be  unendurable.  Every  once 
in  a  while  some  of  them  would  straighten  up  and  deal  some  other 
one  a  terrific  blow  with  a  stick  or  club  of  some  kind,  while  others 
would  lash  unmercifully  others  with  a  whip — the  growling  and 
snarling  being  dreadful  to  listen  to.  I  could  see  others  that  were 
fastened  to  chains  and  ropes  lying  there  in  a  half-starved  con- 
dition, snapping  their  jaws  through  a  famished  condition.  They 
would  beg  some  of  the  others  passing  by  to  bring  them  some- 
thing to  eat  and  drink;  but  all  the  satisfaction  they  received 
was  a  kick  or  a  blow  from  a  stick,  then  they  would  lie  upon  the 
ground,  while  their  suffering  was  intense,  crying  to  God  for 
mercy.  Others  that  I  looked  at  were  in  the  shape  of  horses  with 
human  faces — they  would  come  up  and  kick  each  other  on  the 
belly  and  other  parts  of  the  body,  .then  they  would  lash  each 
other  with  whips  and  put  on  each  other  harness  and  horse  collars 
that  did  not  fit  at  all.  I  saw  many  of  their  necks  raw  and  the 
hair  all  off  the  hide  of  the  neck,  while  buckles  and  other  parts 
of  the  harness  would  scrape  their  hides  so  until  they  would  cry 
out  with  pain.  Some  would  take  others  and  fasten  them  to  a 
heavy  load,  yelling  at  them  all  the  while  to  pull  that  heavy  load 
when  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  do  so ;  they  would  fall  on  the 
ground  through  sheer  exhaustion,  while  others  would  then  beat 
them  unmercifully,  cursing  and  swearing  at  them  all  the  time  for 
being  lazy  brutes  of  the  worst  kind.  When  they  would  try  to 
rise  upon  their  feet  you  could  see  that  their  limbs  had  become 
crippled  in  some  way  from  the  cruel  treatment  that  they  had 
received.  Others  would  kick  up  their  hind  feet,  trying  to  break 


THOMAS  PAINE  199 

loose  from  the  heavy  load;  they  commenced  to  burst  the  harness 
for  which  they  received  a  terrible  beating;  then  their  groans 
were  terrible  to  listen  to.  I  placed  my  hand  over  my  eyes,  try- 
ing to  shut  it  all  out,  when  my  spirit  mate  pulled  my  hand  away, 
saying,  "Dear,  you  must  see  it  to  the  last."  When  I  looked 
again  I  found  many  of  them  had  broken  down — crippled  old 
creatures — through  the  cruel  treatment  which  they  had  received. 
She  said,  "Look  yonder!"  I  looked  in  the  direction  where  she 
pointed  and  beheld  a  large  number  of  human  individuals  that 
looked  like  cats  spitting  and  crying  from  pain.  Some  were  lame 
with  broken  limbs,  others  looked  like  they  had  been  scalded  and 
the  hair  partly  off  their  hide.  Many  of  them  had  bruises  and 
cuts  upon  their  bodies,  while  others  were  bleeding  from  the  nose 
where  some  cruel  individual  had  struck  them  with  a  stone.  They 
were  all  spitting,  snarling  and  tearing  each  other — their  cat  cries 
rent  the  air  and  I  almost  felt  like  falling  to  the  ground.  They 
were  suffering  so  much  from  cruel  treatment  that  their  tortures 
seemed  to  be  more  than  they  could  bear.  I  begged  Lucille  to 
let  us  fly  from  the  place.  She  said,  "Xot  dear,  until  I  have  given 
you  an  explanation  of  all  this :  A  punishment  is  inflicted  upon 
those  creatures  that  you  now  behold  for  cruel  treatment  given 
to  the  animal  race  while  they  lived  in  earth  bodies.  This  is 
the  punishment  placed  upon  them  by  the  great  God  of  Reason 
for  cruelly  treating  dumb  animals-' — they  will  have  to  remain  in 
that  state,  howling,  beating  and  tearing  each  other,  inflicting 
just  such  cruel  blows  on  each  other  that  they  did  on  the  brute 
race.  They  cruelly  maltreated  the  poor  cats  that  did  their  duty 
around  the  house  and  in  the  field.  They  shamefully  abused, 
kicked  and  beat,  starved  and  whipped  man's  greatest  friend,  the 
dog — the  true  friend  of  the  human  race  when  properly  domesti- 
cated and  treated  with  kindness.  Those  that  look  like  horses 
with  human  faces  are  low  brutes  of  the  worst  kind.  \Yhen  the 
poor  animals  did  not  understand  what  they  wanted  them  to  do 
they  shamefully  beat  them  and  kicked  them  until  the  poor  crea- 
tures cried  out  with  pain  when  the  poor  animal  would  shake  with 
fear  and  moan  ;  then  those  brutes  in  human  shape  would  beat 
the  poor  creatures  again,  showing  the  beastly  part  of  their  na- 
tures to  man's  great  servant — the  beautiful  horse.  That,  clear, 
is  the  penalty  those  low  brutes  must  pay  until  the  God  of  Reason 


200        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

is  willing  to  release  them.  That  is  why  you  hear  them  crying 
out  the  names  of  the  animals  that  they  had  cruelly  treated  that 
they  might  come  to  them  in  their  distress  in  order  that  they 
might  treat  them  kindly  and  ask  their  forgiveness.  You  see, 
dear,  nothing  goes  unpunished.  Those  that  commit  crimes  must 
pay  the  penalty.  Look  at  the  hell  that  is  living  in  their  con- 
science that  can  only  be  wiped  out  by  the  forgiveness  of  the  faith- 
ful creatures  that  they  so  cruelly  treated.  Do  you  not  think 
that  they  deserve  that  punishment?"  I  said  I  thought  they  did. 
She  continued,  "Now,  let's  cover  them  with  a  mantle  of  charity 
and  pray  to  the  great  God  of  Reason  to  forgive  them,  whereby 
they  may  become  civilized  men  and  women  understanding  the 
rights  of  man  and  animals,  until  then,  dear,  they  are  lower  than 
the  animals  they  so  cruelly  treated.  In  time  wise  spirits  will 
reach  them  with  the  olive  branch  of  peace  and  forgiveness,  and 
I  shall  hail  the  great  day  of  joy  when  they  can  stand  erect  like 
beautiful  spirits,  with  the  shining  light  of  Truth  and  Reason  in 
their  eyes,  while  their  manly  and  womanly  forms  are  beautiful 
through  the  law  of  evolution,  understanding  that  all  life  in  cre- 
ation requires  one  another's  kindness  and  protection."  Then, 
I  said,  "Oh,  this  great  power  of  Reason!  Hasten  the  day;  light 
up  our  souls  with  good  judgment,  strength  and  knowledge  for 
all  the  fallen  creatures  of  earth — raise  them  up  to  the  true  stand- 
ard of  perfection  and  reveal  with  thy  loving  kindness  that  we 
are  our  brother's  keeper."  She  threw  her  arms  around  my  neck 
and  kissed  me,  saying.  "Dear  Thomas,  the  law  and  the  light  has 
entered  your  soul ;  now  let  us  work  for  its  perfection  among 
God's  children.  YYe  will  continue  it  at  another  time. 

Wednesday,  May  7,  1902. 

Good  morning,  brother.  I  find  the  medium  quite  weak  this 
morning:  he  is  wandering  home  to  the  borderland,  but  I  will  en- 
deavor to  hold  bis  forces  if  I  possibly  can.  I  wish  to  describe  to 
you  a  sad,  woeful  dark  scene  of  misery  that  I  beheld  in  spirit  ex- 
istence. YTy  spirit  mate  said,  "Come,  dear,  and  I  will  show  you 
another  scene."  She  led  me  to  a  large,  open  space,  where  I  saw 
a  great  many  men  and  a  number  of  women  standing  on  one  side 
of  the  open  space,  trying  to. protect  their  eyes  and  faces  with 
their  arms  and  crying  out,  "Ob,  don't !  YYe  have  suffered 
enough  already."  On  the  other  side  of  the  open  space  stood 


THOMAS  PAINE  201 

millions  of  men,  women  and  children,  with  great  piles  of  gold, 
silver,  copper  and  brass  coins.  My  spirit  mate  said,  "Now, 
watch  what  they  will  do!"  Just  then  I  heard  a  sound  like  the 
sound  of  a  bugle,  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  the  men,  women  and 
children  made  a  rush  for  the  piles  of  coin  heaped  up  in  front  of 
them  ;  they  fell  to  grabbing  handfuls  of  coin,  rushed  over  to  the 
other  men  and  women  at  the  other  side  of  the  space,  pelting 
them  with  the  coin,  just  as  hard  as  their  physical  nature  would 
allow.  Every  time  that  those  coins  struck  the  bodies  of  those 
men  and  women  they'd  yell  out  with  excruciating  pain.  It  was 
dreadful  to  look  at  their  agony.  The  coins  seemed  to  leave 
great  blemishes  on  their  spiritual  bodies,  as  if  they  burned  holes 
there.  The  other  parties  would  rush  back,  seize  a  lot  more  of 
the  coin,  come  back  and  pelt  those  poor  unfortunate  spirits  until 
their  cries  became  too  dreadful  to  listen  to.  They  kept  repeat- 
ing that  condition  until  all  the  coin  had  been  thrown  at  those 
spirits  whom  they  were  persecuting.  I  heard  the  bugle  call 
again  when  they  went  over  and  picked  up  all  the  coin,  carrying 
it  back,  building  it  up  in  large  piles  on  their  side.  I  said  to  my 
spirit  mate,  "What  does  all  this  mean?  \Yhy  do  they  make 
those  spirits  suffer  so  much  pain  by  throwing  that  coin  at  them? 
What  have  they  done  that  this  punishment  should  be  inflicted 
upon  them  in  such  a  cruel  way?"  She  said,  "I  will  explain  it  to 
you,  dear.  Those  men  and  women  that  you  see  on  the  left  side 
of  the  space  receiving  such  terrible  punishment  at  the  hands  of 
those  men,  women  and  children,  were  liquor  manufacturers 
when  they  lived  in  the  body.  The  others  on  the  right  side — 
the  men,  women  and  children — were  great  sufferers  through  the 
liquor  traffic  ;  they  became  drunkards,  beat  and  neglected  their 
children  in  the  worst  manner  possible.  Now,  they  are  seeking 
their  revenge  in  that  way  by  persecuting  those  men  and  women 
who  sold  and  manufactured  liquor.  Their  suffering  was  so 
great,  also  the  suffering  of  their  children  :  that  is  why  you  see  the 
children  helping  their  parents  and  friends  to  punish  those  manu- 
facturers. They  have  manufactured  the  worst  curse  that  ever 
came  on  the  earth  planet — also  making  fiends  and  brutes  out  of 
respectable  men  and  women,  cursing  the  rising  generation  by 
the  sale  of  liquors.  If  the  human  race  only  understood  when 
they  invite  their  friends  who  call,  to  partake  of  some  of  their 


202         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

liquor,  at  the  same  time  placing  it  on  their  banquet  tables,  they 
too,  are  making  drunkards  and  must  pay  the  penalty." 

Just  then  we  heard  the  bugle  blow  again.  She  said,  "Now 
watch !  This  phase  of  punishment  is  worse  than  the  other." 
Just  then  the  men,  women  and  children  rushed  over,  grabbed 
the  men  and  women  on  the  -left  side  of  the  space,  dragged  them 
over  to  where  the  piles  of  coin  lay.  The  adults  held  them  down 
while  the  children  crammed  the  coin  down  their  throats ;  then 
the  whole  multitude  laid  to,  beat  them  unmercifully  with  what 
coin  was  left.  After  they  had  done  that  they  kicked  them  around 
just  like  so  much  garbage.  I  said  to  my  spirit  mate,  "This  is 
cruel  and  wicked.  Is  there  no  redemption  for  those  poor  crea- 
tures?" She  said,  "Yes;  when  they  have  paid  the  penalty  of 
their  crimes  on  earth,  hoarding  up  their  millions  at  the  sacrifice 
of  the  human  family.  You  see  now  what  such  earth  luxuries 
bring  upon  them  in  spirit  life.  This  punishment  will  be  con- 
stantly repeated  until  they  permit  the  law  of  Reason  to  enter 
their  souls,  while  on  bended  knees  they  will  make  a  solemn 
promise  to  those  whom  they  wrecked  in  earth  life;  they  will  re- 
turn to  earth  and  take  on  a  physical  body,  become  lecturers  in 
the  interests  of  temperance,  going  into  the  worst  dens  of  vice  that 
the  world  knows  of.  When  they  have  accomplished  saving  many 
human  wrecks  by  their  temperance  work,  leading  unfortunate 
men  and  women  back  to  their  families  where  all  may  become 
united  and  happy,  then  they  will  understand  the  law  of  good 
judgment  and  wisdom,  passing  through  this  condition  in  their 
physical  body  laying  down  that  earth  embodiment  they  arrive 
at  the  stage  of  bright  spirituality. 

"Many  of  the  bright  spirits  that  you  beheld  in  the  'Temple 
of  Music'  were  such  as  those  that  you  now  look  at.  There  are 
many  other  scenes,  clear  Thomas,  that  I  could  show  you.  but 
today  is  the  Flower  Festival.  The  flowers  are  at  their  height 
of  perfection  now  and  advanced  spirits  hold  a  Flower  Festival. 
Come  with  me  and  you  can  remain  on  the  outside  and  look  at 
all  that  takes  place,  while  I  take  part  in  the  Festival."  As  we 
were  walking  along,  approaching  the  beautiful  park  where  the 
Flower  Festival  was  to  be  held,  I  heard  some  soft,  sweet  music 
— it  sounded  like  birds  warbling.  The  nearer  we  approached 
the  park  the  music  gained  in  power.  Oh,  it  was  heavenly!  I 


THOMAS  PAINE  203 

felt  a  divine  influence  entering  my  soul,  at  the  same  time  I  no- 
ticed that  all  the  birds  on  the  trees  sang  with  such  power  I 
thought  their  little  throats  would  burst.  My  spirit  mate  said, 
"Now,  you  remain  here  with  these  other  spirit  friends  and  watch 
the  'Flower  Dance.'  "  She  glided  away  into  the  woods. 

I  addressed  some  of  the  spirit  friends  close  by,  saying,  "Why 
do  you  not  take  part  in  the  'Flower  Dance?'"  They  answered 
me  by  saying,  "We  have  not  prepared  our  condition  yet.  When 
we  have  worked  off  all  that  which  held  us  under  the  ban  of 
superstition  and  realize  that  our  whole  future  life  is  to  work  for 
the  elevation  of  the  planet  and  all  that  is  on  it,  then  we  can  take 
part  in  the  'Flower  Dance.'  Those  that  you  see  in  the  'Flower 
Dance'  presently  are  willing  to  become  martyrs  for  any  con- 
dition of  the  human  race — they  are  upbuilders  of  mentality, 
constantly  weaving  thoughts  to  bless  the  children  of  earth. 
They  have  outgrown  all  selfishness  whatever.  It  holds  no 
part  in  their  nature.  Watch  the  holy  expression  upon  their 
countenances  and  the  generous  look  that  beams  from  their  eyes 
— it  tells  you  of  humility  glorified  through  their  works  in  the 
sight  of  the  God  of  Nature."  While  we  were  sitting,  thinking 
over  what  earh  other  had  said,  we  heard  low,  sweet  music,  like 
the  introduction  to  some  great  piece  of  music.  Then  we  heard 
low,  sweet  voices  singing  as  they  came'  nearer  and  nearer:  when, 
all  of  a  sudden,  their  vocal  powers  burst  into  the  grandest  sing- 
ing I  ever  heard  in  my  life.  Thousands  of  musicians  came  out 
of  the  woods  playing  on  reed  instruments — their  bodies  all  cov- 
ered with  flowers.  After  them  came  the  dancers,  singing  and 
beating  their  cymbals  in  time — their  bodies  also  were  covered 
with  flowers.  The  tints  and  colors  of  the  flowers  were  some- 
thing grand  ;  they  seemed  to  be  woven  in  with  perfect  harmony 
of  color. 

When  the  millions  had  reached  the  open  space — I  cannot 
describe  them  ;  it  was  something  beyond  my  comprehension.  It 
seemed  so  marvelous  that  it  would  take  a  great  artist  to  give 
you  a  faint  description  of  them.  They  were  so  glorious  to  look 
upon.  That  is  the  only  expression  I  can  give  you.  The  in- 
struments played  while  the  others  danced  and  sang;  all  their 
movements  being  the  poetry  of  motion  and  grace.  I  said  to 
mvself,  "Oh,  God,  hasten  the  time  that  I  can  be  like  one  of 


204 

those !"  As  they  formed  into  the  several  groups,  each  group 
represented  a  bed  of  flowers  in  full  bloom.  After  they  had 
formed  these  different  beds  the  musicians  all  glided  to  the  center 
of  the  space.  The  dancers  formed  circles  around  them.  After  they 
had  played  and  sung  quite  a  while  the  musicians  'became  ele- 
vated into  space.  Then  each  circle  commenced  also  to  be  eve- 
vated.  When  the  last  circle  was  elevated  they  all  commenced 
to  float  away  off,  dropping  the  flowers  from  off  their  spiritual 
bodies  as  they  were  gliding  and  floating  away;  then  we  could 
only  hear  the  music  as  if  it  were  a  great  way  off. 

We  commenced  to  look  at  one  another,  remarking  how 
wonderful  it  was,  saying,  "Our  father  and  mother  God  were 
beyond  our  comprehension."  All  of  a  sudden  we  heard  a  terrific 
wind  blowing,  and  looking  up  we  beheld  those  grand  spirits 
right  over  us  singing,  playing  and  beating  their  cymbals.  They 
remained  in  that  condition,  I  should  judge,  for  several  hours, 
when  we  heard  one  grand  flourish  of  the  instruments  and  voices, 
then  all  became  quiet.  Oh !  we  were  so  happy  as  we  saw  them 
gliding  toward  us.  When  they  came  in  our  midst,  our  hearts 
were  filled  with  joy.  I  said  to  my  spirit  mate,  "This  is  Heaven, 
indeed."  She  said  to  me,  "Dear  Thomas,  you  have  only  had  a 
little  glimpse  of  the  Heaven  of  Love,  Generosity  and  Truth. 
Now  we  will  return  to  our  home  while  a  soul  like  yours  must 
prepare  its  condition  to  take  on  re-embodiment,  for  you  must 
understand  and  realize  that  your  earth  work  is  not  finished  yet." 

Brother  and  friend,  those  were  some  of  the  experiences  I 
witnessed  in  spirit  life.  I  will  soon  take  on  another  body  on 
your  earth  plane,  and  will  become  a  more 'radical  individual 
than  I  ever  was  before.  My  soul's  desire  is  to  make  priestcraft 
tremble  at  its  foundation.  I  will  make  a  prediction  :  The  Va- 
tican at  Rome  and  all  it  holds  will  go  up  in  smoke  some  day, 
which  will  open  the  eyes  of  credulous  religious  dupes  when 
they  find  their  God,  Jehovah,  has  no  power  to  stay  the  flames. 
The  priesthood  will  become  wanderers  on  earth,  despised  by  all 
progressive  thinkers  and  highly  educated  individuals. 

Your  friend  for  Truth  always — every  man  and  woman  is 
my  sister  and  brother.  This  earth  planet  is  the  field  in  which  I 
must  become  an  explorer  and  a  pathfinder  through  the  Age  of 
Reason,  reaching  Truth,  the  highest  religion  in  the  world. 

THOMAS  PAIXE 


Mary  C.  Morse  to  Her  Husband, 
E.  W.  Morse 

Chapter    XIII 

Tuesday,  June  5,  1902. 

Good  morning,  Mr.  Hulburd.  What  a  beautiful  morning 
it  is.  The  sun  is  shining  bright  and  the  birds  singing  in  the 
trees  make  it  a  glorious  paradise  on  earth. 

The  band  has  given  me  permission  to  send  a  letter  to  my 
husband,  for  which  I  thank  them  very  much.  I  also  will  thank 
you  for  taking  it  down,  hoping  you  will  please  send  it  to  my 
husband,  for  which  the  good  angels  will  reward  you. 

My  dear,  dear  husband. — They  have  permitted  me  to  com- 
municate with  you  this  morning.  I  only  wish  you  were  here  to 
enjoy  some  of  the  beautiful  weather  they  are  having  in  the 
mountains.  I  know  it  is  a  long  journey  for  you  to  take,  but 
perhaps  later  on  you  will  be  able  to  take  it.  If  it  is  so  decreed 
I  can  talk  with  you  then,  as  I  have  more  strength  now  to  talk 
with  you  than  I  had  when  you  were  up  here  last  year.  I  am 
with  you  as  much  as  I  possibly  can  be,  for  I  told  you  before 
that  I  was  studying  the  life  line  of  the  human  race.  Search- 
light gives  us  much  information  on  that  line.  It  is  wonderful, 
dear  husband  to  study  the  intricate  parts  of  the  human  anatomy 
and  our  spirit  existence  here.  We  received  instructions  con- 
nected with  the  lobe  cells  of  the  brain.  Those  are  storage  bat- 
teries for  human  intellect.  The  individual  living  in  a  physical  body 
my  dear,  is  affected  by  all  thought  in  space  emanating  from  the 
human  brain.  Some  more,  some  less,  according  to  their  sensi- 
bilities and  unfoldments  of  spirituality.  Weak  minds  are  held 
in  a  denuded  condition  or  what  you  would  call  a  naked  exist- 
ence on  account  of  their  weak  condition,  whereby  they  cannot 
grasp  intellectual  knowledge  like  a  thorough  healthy  brain  ac- 
tion. Causation  is  brought  to  bear  on  a  weak  mind,  so  in  time  it 
will  develop  a  healthv  action.  Mentality  will  become  the  ruling 
power  and  the  weak  physical  condition  will  have  to  stand  back 
and  permit  the  mental  action  to  control  the  workings  of  the 


206         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

human  brain,  the  mental  will  force  itself  into  such  power  that 
the  brain  is  compelled  to  receive  idealities  into  the  lobe  cells 
wherein  they  are  developed,  giving  exprssion  and  radiation  to 
the  whole  soul  ability  of  the  individual  living  in  a  weak  body. 
The  physical  then  is  submissive  on  all  occasions  as  the.  mind 
has  generated  a  healthy  condition  and  all  the  machinery  of  the 
human  anatomy  works  smoothly  and  lives  in  accordance  to 
spiritual  growth,  memory  becomes  deified  in  the  soul  devel- 
opment of  all  life  living  on  the  earth  plane,  as  well  as  in  our 
spirit  existence.  The  shilly-shally  condition  is  thrown  one  side, 
or,  in  other  words,  demateralized  to  make  room  for  conception, 
perception  and  vivisection  of  all  thought  when  once  the  human 
brain  becomes  a  model  and  receptacle  of  all  that  is  high,  grand 
and  spiritual.  The  waves  of  time  vibrate  constantly  on  the 
shores  of  intellect — disease  is  unknown  then  to  the  human 
anatomy.  Those  spiritual  waves  that  are  constantly  coming  in 
rapport  with  the  inner  sense  of  the  mind  destroys  and  banishes 
all  human  disease. 

There  is  a  fountain  in  each  human  soul  that  has  a  spiritual 
growth ;  each  sparkling  jet  is  tinted  with  a  different  shade  com- 
ing from  the  elixir  of  life,  when  all  those  shades  are  modified 
and  the  colors  are  subdued  into  pale  lights  coming  from  the 
fountain  which  in  time  will  be  purity  itself.  They  will  all  be 
merged  into  vvhite — the  crowning  light  and  shade  of  a  pure 
soul  living  in  a  healthy  spiritual  body.  The  soul,  dear,  is  life 
while  the  white  ,  bright  light  is  the  monitor  that  guides  our 
footsteps  on  to  become  one  with  God ;  then  our  creative  power 
is  the  delight  and  love  of  our  soul  to  see  that  we  love  one  an- 
other. There  is  no  crime  in  worshipping  when  it  is  judiciously 
before  our  mind,  because  a  pure  soul  loves  and  worships  all 
nature — it  is  only  a  weak  intellect  that  has  no  love  and  ador- 
ation for  the  true  lather  and  mother  God  of  all  life  which  we 
behold  displayed  on  every  side,  no  matter  in  which  way  our  eyes 
may  wander,  they  are  only  wandering  home,  going  nearer  to 
father  and  mother  God — where  the  soul  shall  live  for  all  time. 
But,  Oh,  dear  husband,  there  is  much  work  aside  to  make  our 
paths  smooth  in  order  that  we  may  reach  the  gates  of  eternal 
life.  The  expression  of  our  whole  being  will  be  the  password 
to  open  the  gates  so  that  we  may  enter  into  that  temple  of  peace 


MARY  C.  MORSE  TO  HER  HUSBAND,  E.  W.  MORSE    207 

where  all  souls  are  unified  in  love,  Truth  being  the  religion  of 
the  past,  present  and  future — no  sleep  or  rest  is  required  then, 
for  the  soul  is  fully  awake  to  the  blissful  action  of  its  true 
spiritual  condition.  Tarry  a  little,  dear  Ephriam.  I  am  trying 
to  clear  away  the  brush  so  that  our  path  will  be  a  path  of  peace 
whought  out  by  deeds  done  to  our  sisters  and  brothers  in  hu- 
man life.  In  time  our  whole  planet  will  be  that  of  Love — when 
all  souls  will  have  but  a  single  thought  and  all  hearts  will  beat 
as  one. 

I  gave  a  communication  for  their  book.  If  you  can  make 
it  convenient  to  make  them  a  visit  this  summer,  I  think  Brother 
Hulburd  will  be  kind  enough  to  read  it  for  you,  as  it  is  too  long 
to  copy — he  having  no  time  to  spare  for  that  occasion,  as  all  his 
time,  dear,  is  occupied  taking  down  the  communications,  en- 
tering them  in  a  book  for  publication.  With  his  other  duties  he 
is  constantly  kept  in  harness,  so  now,  dear,  be  of  good  cheer,  as 
I  shall  wait  for  the  bridegroom  to  come  to  me. 

Give  my  love  to  all  those  that  would  like  to  hear  from  me. 
Speak  of  me  to  Sister  and  Brother  Stewart.  Their  daughter  is 
here  with  me  today  and  sends  much  love  to  her  parents.  Her 
spirit  name  is  Violet.  She  hopes  they  will  think  it  is  pretty. 
She  tickled  her  father's  nose  the  other  day — that  is  why  he  had 
to  scratch  it  so.  She  said  it  was  she  who  made  the  hairpin  drop 
out  of  her  mother's  hair.  Tell  Sister  Shepherd  that  her  sweet- 
heart says  he  hopes  the  band  will  permit  him  before  long  to 
send  her  a  letter.  He  says  it  will  be  beneficial  to  her  health  to 
come  up  here  for  a  while  into  the  mountains. 

Oh,  sweetheart,  I  only  wish  that  you  were  here  to  see  what 
a  beautiful  day  this  is.  I  think  they  are  having  the  loveliest 
weather  I  ever  beheld.  Justin's  health  is  about  the  same.  The 
beautiful  weather  keeps  him  from  having  any  more  hemorrhages 
at  present.  I  do  hope  his  health  will  improve,  in  order  that  he 
may  get  stronger  and  go  around  more  than  he  does.  I  hope 
he  will  soon  be  able  to  ride  out  once  in  a  while.  Xow.  I  send 
you  much  love  and  many  good  thoughts — for  thoughts  are 
things,  you  know,  dear,  when  developed.  Your  loving  spirit 
mate,  Mary  C.  Morse. 

1  thank  Brother  Hulburd  for  taking  down  this  communica- 
tion to  send  to  you,  so  good  day.  for  the  present. 


Julia  Hawthorne 

Chapter  XIV 


Tuesday,  February  25,  1902. 

I  enter  your  home  unannounced,  and  it  is  my  desire  to  give 
you  a  friendly  greeting.  I  hope  you  hold  no  unfriendly  feeling 
toward  me  for  making  you  this  visit,  as  you  see,  without  the 
day  is  dull  and  cloudy.  This  rain  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  farm- 
ers. Now,  I  wish  to  tell  you  that  I  was  prevailed  upon  to  come 
here  and  give  a  communication  for  your  book. 

When  I  lived  in  a  physical  body  I  was  known  as  "Julia,  the 
blind  singer."  I  was  blind  from  birth.  My  father's  name  was 
Alexander  Hawthorne ;  he  was  a  Xew  York  business  man,  well 
known  in  the  New  York  Exchange,  which  building  was  located 
on  Wall  street,,  Xew  York.  My  mother's  name  was  Margaret 
Hamilton  before  she  accepted  my  father's  name.  She  was  from 
the  Hamilton  family  of  New  York,  whose  home  was  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson.  I  had  a  brother  whose  name  was  Henry 
Hawthorne.  He  \vas  ten  years  older  than  I.  I  was  christened 
Julia  Hawthorne.  The  Reverend  Henry  Silas  Hawthorne  was 
my  father's  brother. 

Now,  I  will  relate  to  you  and  also  describe  somewhat  of  our 
family :  My  father  was  a  successful  man  in  financial  affairs,  or, 
as  the  world  calls  it,  money  matters.  He  was  a  vain,  pompous 
man  and  liked  to  be  looked  up  to  in  society.  My  mother  was 
a  weak  fashionable  woman  who  blighted  and  cursed  the  lives  of 
her  children.  My  father  was  proud  of  her  beauty  and  placed 
her  at  the  head  of  society.  This  was  long  ago,  as  you  call  it  in 
the  body.  The  time  I  speak  of  was  in  the  days  of  the  first  build- 
ing they  called  the  Exchange  on  Wall  street — not  the  great  edi- 
fice that  they  built  before  I  passed  out  of  the  body.  We  lived — 
that  is,  our  dwelling  was  on  Fourteenth  street,  west  of  Broad- 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  209 

way.  My  mother,  in  order  to  keep  her  beautiful  form,  had  her 
maid  lace  her  up  so  tight  that  I  often  wondered  how  she  could 
breathe  with  any  freedom  whatever. 

When  Madame  Anna  Bishop  first  came  from  England  to 
New  York  and  appeared  in  Grand  Opera,  all  the  fashionable 
people  vied  with  each  other  to  secure  the  most  prominent  boxes 
and  also  the  most  prominent  seats  to  witness  the  opera  of  "Lu- 
cretia  Borgia/'  produced  for  the  first  time"  in  New  York  city. 
She  was  a  great  singer  then.  I  heard  her  twenty  years  after- 
ward, when  she  made  New  York  another  visit,  bringing  with 
her  from  England  a  large  operatic  company.  It  was  looked 
upon  as  such  those  days.  My  mother  and  father  had  secured 
a  prominent  box  on  her  first  appearance  in  New  York  city — so 
I  was  told  by  my  fashionable  mother  afterwards.  She  felt  quite 
proud  of  the  occasion  and  seemed  to  brag  of  it  a  great  deal  to 
her  many  fashionable  friends.  That  night  that  she  attended  the 
opera  she  cursed  me  in  her  womb.  She  became  violent  and 
angry  to  think  her  maid  could  not  lace  her  in  tight  enough  in 
order  that  she  might  wear  her  wedding  dress  on  that  occasion. 
It  was  low  necked,  violet  satin,  with  white  Valenciennes  lace 
trimming.  They  placed  it  on  her  old  frail  body  when  she  was 
laid  in  the  coffin  for  burial.  Now,  I  will  explain  to  you  how 
she  cursed  me  in  the  womb  that  night :  She  was  so  tightly 
laced  that  she  fainted  during  the  second  act  of  the  opera.  They 
told  me  that  she  was  removed  to  the  back  part  of  the  box  where 
father  ripped  open  her  waist  with  his  pocket  knife.  They 
brought  her  back  to  her  normal  condition  by  administering  some 
kind  of  a  cordial.  When  she  had  thoroughly  revived,  her  maid 
wrapped  her  opera  cloak  around  her  and  she  sat  in  the  front  of 
the  box  during  the  rest  of  the  performance.  When  the  curtain 
had  fallen  on  the  last  act,  she  swooned  again  and  a  physician 
had  to  be  summoned.  They  had  to  send  for  blankets.  She  was 
wrapped  up  in  them  and  conveyed  to  her  carriage.  The  phy- 
sician went  in  the  carriage  with  them  to  their  home,  where  he 
was  in  attendance  all  night.  Her  symptoms  showed  that  she 
bad  caught  a  severe  cold  by  wearing  a  low  nocked  dress  and 
sitting  in  front  of  that  prominent  box,  where  she  received  the 
benefit  of  all  draught  from  the  stage.  From  the  effect  of  her 
condition  and  the  bad  cold  she  had  cauirht  she  became  blind 


210         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and  remained  so  for  over  three  years.  I  came  into  the  world 
blind,  cursed  by  her  condition  and  the  fashionable  life  she  lived. 
When  I  was  born  I  was  given  over  to  a  wet  nurse  to  be  taken 
care  of.  I  do  not  think  my  mother  ever  kissed  me  in  her  life. 
She  hated  me  because  I  was  born  blind.  When  I  was  about 
seven  years  old  they  discovered  I  had  a  singing  voice,  and  an 
ear  for  music.  I  was  sent  to  a  blind  institution  to  receive  a  blind 
education,  and  especially  a  musical  education.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber that  my  father  or  mother  ever  called  to  see  me  while  I  lived 
in  that  institution.  I  remained  there  until  I  was  eighteen  years 
old.  One  of  my  teachers  told  me  that  a  deformed  young  man 
called  frequently  to  ask  after  my  health.  One  day  I  said  to  the 
principal  of  the  institution  I  would  like  to  talk  to  that  young 
man — perhaps  he  could  give  me  some  information  concerning 
my  parents.  The  interview  was  granted.  One  day  I  was  sum- 
moned to  the  reception  room,  where  I  found  the  young  man 
awaiting  my  coming.  When  I  entered  the  room  he  came  for- 
ward, taking  both  my  hands  in  his,  which  he  held  with  a  fervent 
grasp.  When  he  did  so  I  discovered  through  my  senses  that 
he  was  smaller  than  I  was.  He  said,  "Oh,  sister  Julia,  we  meet 
at  last."  I  said,  "Can  you  be  my  brother  Henry,  whom  I  never 
met  before?  I  have  only  heard  my  father  speak  of  you,  but  I 
never  met  you,  that  I  remember,  for  you  must  know  that  I  was 
only  a  child  when  they  placed  me  in  this  institution."  He  said, 
"Dear  Sister  Julia,  I  am  your  brother,  Henry,  and  I  thank  God 
you  are  blind  and  cannot  see  me."  I  said,  "Oh,  how  cruel  for 
you  to  speak  like  this  ;  it  seems  to  me  I  am  shunned  by  every- 
one because  I  am  blind."  He  said,  "Oh !  no,  sister,  dear ;  that 
is  not  the  reason.  Come  and  sit  clown  on  this  sofa  and  I  will 
tell  you  why  I  am  glad  you  are  blind  and  cannot  see  me.  I  am 
so  deformed  and  misshapen  I  am  hideous  to  look  upon,  and  my 
face  is  like  that  of  an  ape — all  drawn  out  of  any  semblance  to 
a  human  being.  I  am  horrible  to  look  upon  and  the  children  are 
all  afraid  of  me,  because  I  look  so  much  like  a  brute  animal." 
I  said,  "Oh, God!  Can  it  be  possible?"  He  said,  "I  am  glad  you 
cannot  see  me,  but,  sister,  we  can  love  each  other  the  same."  I 
said,  "Oh,  yes;  I  am  glad  someone  cares  for  me."  I  put  out  my 
hand  and  passed  it  over  his  face.  After  I  had  done  so  I  shrunk 
back  with  horror,  for  in  passing  my  hand  over  his  face  I  found 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  211 

it  was  contorted  and  drawn  all  out  of  shape.  I  discovered  there 
were  large  teeth  protruding  from  his  mouth  like  the  tusks  of  an 
animal.  His  eyes  were  large  and  bulged  out  like  a  cow's.  His 
forehead  receded  toward  the  back  of  his  head.  He  laughed  a 
kind  of  fiendish  laugh  and  said,  "Xow,  sister,  since  you  have  had 
the  courage  to  pass  your  hands  over  my  face  and  head  suppose 
you  now  pass  them  over  the  trunk  of  my  body  and  see  what  a 
dandy  I  am.  I  am  the  twin  brother  of  Apollo."  I  passed  my 
hands  over  his  body  and  discovered  that  his  breast  stuck  out 
from  the  trunk  of  his  body  in  such  a  peculiar  formation  that  I 
cannot  describe  it.  His  bowels  seemed  to  be  of  very  small  di- 
mension, while  on  his  back  there  seemed  to  be  a  large  hump.  He 
told  me  he  walked  on  the  side  of  his  feet  and  that  a  little  dog 
could  run  through  his  legs  and  not  touch  them.  I  shrank  back 
from  him  and  cried  aloud,  "Oh,  God  of  horrors !  Why  have  you 
cursed  us  both  like  this?  My  brother  is  a  deformed  malforma- 
tion and  a  travesty  on  the  human  race,  while  I  am  blind  and 
cannot  see  him.  You  have  cursed  us  with  thy  vindictiveness,  as 
you  cursed  Adam  and  Eve,  and  I  hate  and  curse  you  from  the 
depths  of  my  soul !"  My  brother  grasped  my  hands,  saying, 
"Oh,  sister,  sister  dear,  do  not  charge  this  to  God.  I  know  our 
affliction  is  something  terrible,  but  we  must  charge  it  to  a  fash- 
ionable mother  who  cursed  us  in  the  womb.  She  hated  us  and 
we  became  unwelcome  visitors  at  our  father's  home.  He  had  a 
desire  for  children,  while  she  had  none,  and  hoped  we  never 
would  be  born  alive.  She  cursed  us  in  her  heart  every  time  she 
found  the  maid  could  not  lace  her  up  just  so.  When  my  father 
first  saw  my  little  deformed  body  I  was  told  that  he  hated  it 
and  cursed  it,  commanding  the  nurse  to  take  it  out  of  his  sight. 
Sister,  dear,  I  never  knew  or  understood  anything  of  a  parent's 
love.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  human  being  ever  placed  a  kiss 
on  my  lips."  Then  I  said,  "I  will,  brother;  we  are  unfortunate, 
since  God  has  cursed  us  through  our  mother."  I  placed  my  arms 
around  him  and  kissed  him.  but,  Oh,  God!  it  was  like  kissing  a 
brute  animal — his  teeth  protruded  so  out  over  his  under  lip.  He 
said  to  me,  "Sister,  will  you  walk  with  me  out  in  the  open  air. 
1  wish  to  relate  to  you  a  vision  I  had."  I  said,  1  would  go  with 
him.  Then  he  led  me  out  of  doors  and  along  the  gravel  walks 
in  the  garden.  We  came  to  a  rustic  bench  under  a  large  elm 


212         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

tree.  We  sat  down  on  the  bench,  holding  each  other's  hands, 
when  he  said,  "Sister  Julia,  do  you  believe  in  spirits?  I  mean 
people  who  once  lived  in  a  body — that  they  can  come  back  and 
communicate  with  us?"  I  said,  "Why,  brother,  I  never  heard 
such  talk  as  that  before."  He  said,  "Well,  it  is  so,  sister."  I 
said,  "How  do  you  know?"  He  said,  "They  come  to  me."  Then 
I  felt  a  little  uncanny  and  nervous,  but  said  nothing,  as  I  wished 
him  to  go  on  and  tell  about  his  vision.  He  said,  "First,  you 
must  know,  sister,  that  my  father  gave  me  away  to  an  old  fisher- 
man on  the  New  Jersey  coast,  whose  name  is  Peter  Ellis.  My 
father  gave  him  $5000  to  take  care  of  me,  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
commit  a  murder  by  putting  me  out  of  the  way.  I  lived  with 
that  fisherman  and  his  family  until  I  was  six  years  old.  His 
children  would  get  up  a  showr  with  an  old  goat  and  a  dog  they 
had,  and  myself.  I  being  such  a  monstrosity  to  look  at,  they 
charged  three  cents  admission.  They  made  some  money  in  that 
way.  One  day  a  fishing  party  landed  on  the  beach  near  our 
home.  I  was  sitting  by  myself  playing  with  some  shells,  as  I 
liked  to  be  alone.  When  the  men  discovered  me  one  of  them 
said  to  the  others,  'In  the  name  of  God,  look  at  that  creature ! 
He  must  be  a  devilfish  out  of  the  sea.  Barnum  ought  to  have 
him  with  the  show.'  When  they  came  up  to  where  I  was  sit- 
ting, one  of  them,  who  had  a  kind  face;  stooped  down  and  said, 
'Little  one,  \vhere  do  you  live?'  I  pointed  over  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  home  and  said,  'Over  there.'  He  took  his  purse  out 
of  his  pocket  and  gave  me  a  piece  of  money.  After  they  went 
away  I  laid  clown  on  the  beach  and  went  to  sleep.  While 
I  was  sleeping  a  vision  or  dream  same  to  me  in  which  I  saw 
you  born  blind.  A  voice  then  said  to  me,  'This  is  your  sister, 
and  some  clay  she  will  become  a  beautiful  singer,  for  she  will  be 
born  with  a  beautiful  voice.'  Then  I  said  to  the  voice,  'Are 
not  these  people  my  parents?'  The  voice  said,  'Xo:  they  were 
paid  to  bring  you  up,  but  they  will  sell  you  to  a  show.  In  two 
days  you  will  leave  here.  Do  not  feel  sorry,  for  through  this 
channel  in  time  we  will  lead  you  to  your  blind  sister.  She  will 
sing  for  you  and  for  a  time  you  will  be  happy,  as  you  will  be 
permitted  to  enjoy  one  of  the  sweets  of  life  in  listening  to  your 
sister  singing.'  The  man  whom  1  thought  was  my  father  and 
who  bore  the  name  of  Peter  Ellis,  sold  me  to  one  of  those  men 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  213 

for  $2000.  He  brought  me  to  New  York,  sold  me  to  P.  T.  Bar- 
num for  $3000 — I  being  such  an  ugly  piece  of  monstrosity.  I 
traveled  with  his  show  and  was  called  "The  Wild  Boy  of  Bor- 
neo.' I  was  treated  well  and  taken  great  care  of — for  you  must 
know,  sister,  such  a  hideous-looking  creature  as  me  is  worth 
something  to  a  showman.  There  was  a  little  fortune  in  such  an 
object  as  I  am.  One  night  two  years  ago  this  month,  sister, 
dear,  I  was  lying  in  bed  and  could  not  go  to  sleep.  There  came 
such  a  nervous  feeling  on  me  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  you  ap- 
peared standing  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  dressed  just  as  you  are 
now.  The  voice  said,  'Look,  this  is  your  sister.  She  has  grown 
to  a  young  lady  and  we  will  lead  you  to  her.  You  are  ten 
years  older  than  she  is.  She  is  blind  and  cannot  see  you,  so  you 
need  not  be  afraid  that  she  will  hate  you.  After  you  have  seen 
her  and  become  united  in  each  other's  affections  you  will  pass 
out  of  your  body  in  order  to  prepare  for  reincarnation  or  re- 
embodiment.'  Sister  Julia,  I  thank  God  I  have  looked  upon  your 
beautiful  face — for  it  is  beautiful  to  me — and  I  also  thank  God 
again  that  you  cannot  see  mine.  The  voice  told  me  that  today 
I  am  to  pass  from  the  body.  Now,  sister,  dear,  let  me  take  your 
hand,  for  I  wish  to  place  upon  your  finger  four  diamond  rings 
that  were  given  to  me  by  Mr.  Barnum.  Tonight  your  father 
will  come  for  you,  as  he  thinks  your  mother  is  dying  and  wishes 
to  look  upon  you  once  more.  Sister,  dear,  you  are  beautiful  to 
look  upon.  Your  only  affliction  is  blindness.  Now,  will  you 
please  sing  for  me  once  more."  I  asked  him  what  I  should  sing. 
He  said,  "Sing  that  song  wherein  it  says,  'When  we  met  it  was 
in  a  crowd  and  I  really  thought  it  shunned  me;  but  when  I 
turned  around  his  eyes  they  were  upon  me?'  I  sang  the  song 
for  him.  when  he  said,  "Xow,  let  me  hold  you  in  these  deformed 
arms  for  the  last  time  in  this  body."  He  did  so,  and  we  held 
each  other  in  close  embrace.  His  body  commenced  to  shiver  all 
over:  he  relaxed  his  hold  and  fell  dead  at  my  feet.  I  screamed 
for  help,  for  T  was  frightened.  They  bore  his  body  back  to  that 
showman.  Barnum.  who  laid  it  away  in  a  grave. 

That  night  my  father  came  for  me.  T  returned  with  him  to 
his  home.  I  was  led  to  the  room  where  my  mother  lay  nigh 
unto  death.  When  she  saw  me  she  said,  "Julia  Hawthorne,  T 
have  done  lots  for  vou.  I  have  had  von  educated  in  the  clas- 


214         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

sics  and  in  music.  You  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  what  I  have 
done  for  you."  Just  then  a  feeling  came  over  me  and  I  laughed 
aloud  a  mocking  laugh.  It  seemed  to  me  I  grew  into  a  she  tiger 
who  was  held  at  bay  by  dogs — for  a  time  it  seemed  to  me  that 
I  lost  my  reasoning  powers.  All  of  a  sudden  I  screamed  out  and 
spit  and  hissed  like  a  tigress.  When  I  found  my  voice  and 
could  utter  a  sentence,  I  hissed  out,  "Thou  society  wanton ! 
Thou  fashionable  painted  woman  of  Babylon !  Thou  Jezebel ! 
A  curse  to  all  moral  society,  void  of  all  mother's  love  and  na- 
ture !  Thou  harlot  that  wears  the  scarlot  cloak  of  criminality — 
you  that  cursed  my  brother  and  myself  in  the  womb.  You 
made  him  a  deformed  monstrosity,  for  the  love  of  fashionable 
lust  had  warped  your  soul.  You  gave  birth  to  a  living  monster, 
your  husband,  my  father,  as  you  call  him,  sold  him  into  cap- 
tivity; finally  he  was  placed  on  exhibition  at  a  shilling  a  head, 
so  that  the  public  might  look  upon  a  fashionable  woman's 
curse.  I,  whom  you  caused  to  be  born  blind,  and  never  knew 
the  love  of  a  father  and  mother,  tell  you  this.  You  sent  me 
away  from  your  presence  as  you  could  not  bear  to  look  upon 
me,  since  I  was  blind  and  would  be  in  the  way  of  a  fashionable 
she  devil.  I  hate  and  curse  your  name,  for  you  are  more  loath- 
some to  me  than  the  monstrosity  that  you  gave  birth  to,  for  he 
was  the  only  one  that  ever  placed  on  my  lips  the  affectionate 
kiss  of  Love  and  kindness !  He  fell  dead  at  my  feet.  Xow,  I 
come  to  tell  you  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  to  you.  Your 
soul  is  a  curse  and  hell  is  waiting  for  you."  I  then  fled  from 
the  room  and  fell  down  stairs  and  was  picked  up  by  the  servants, 
placed  on  a  sofa  in  the  parlor  in  an  insensible  condition. 

We  will  continue  at  another  time,  as  I  have  to  speak  of  the 
medium  and  where  I  met  him. 

Wednesday,  February  26,  1902. 

Good  morning,  sir.  You  have  had  an  abundance  of  rain 
during  the  night.  I  was  sorry  to  see  the  medium  spit  so  much 
blood  this  morning.  That  weakens  his  physical  condition,  there- 
fore his  vitality  is  low.  That  is  why  he  requires  so  much  warmth 
to  keep  the  heat  in  his  blood.  The  circulation  during  such  a 
storm  is  at  a  low  temperature,  it  is  slow  and  sluggish,  therefore 
the  room  will  have  to  be  kept  quite  warm  in  order  that  his  blood 
may  circulate  as  much  as  possible.  The  amount  of  blood  that  he 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  215 

expectorated  during  the  night  and  this  morning  from  his  lungs 
is  very  weakening  to  his  constitution,  therefore  he  will  require 
nourishing  food — cracked  wheat  and  oatmeal  and  mix  it  thor- 
oughly. Then  cook  it  for  a  long  time  slowly  and  keep  it  thor- 
oughly covered,  that  the  steam  may  not  escape,  for  in  the  moist 
steam  there  is  a  good  deal  of  nutrition.  When  it  is  served, 
sprinkle  a  little  sugar  on  it  and  grate  a  little  nutmeg.  Let  him 
have  quite  a  good-sized  bowl  full  of  that  mixture  of  grain,  as  it 
will  help  somewhat  to  make  blood.  He  is  weaker  than  you 
have  any  idea  of  and  will  require  some  care  and  a  good  deal  of 
watching. 

Now  I  will  take  up  some  of  my  life.  After  I  had  fallen 
down  the  stairs  I  did  not  seem  to  realize  where  I  was  or  what 
were  my  surroundings  for  over  three  weeks  they  told  me.  After 
I  had  returned  to  my  conscious  condition  and  thoroughly  re- 
alized what  they  were  saying,  they  told  me  that  my  mother 
was  dead  and  buried.  It  was  no  regret  to  me  that  I  had  lost 
her;  therefore  it  brought  no  bad  feeling  to  my  condition.  My 
father  was  a  vain,  pompous  man  and  full  of  selfish  conceit  and 
yet  withall  he  was  a  money  making  man.  Six  months  after 
my  mother  died  he  made  a  visit  to  some  relatives  who  lived 
in  Trenton,  Xew  Jersey.  While  there  he  became  acquainted 
with  a  beautiful  young  lady.  Her  family  was  only  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  but  they  were  honest,  sensible  and  truthful,  as  I 
realized  in  later  years.  Their  mother  was  a  sensible  woman. 
She  had  educated  and  brought  up  her  daughters  to  understand 
housekeeping  thoroughly.  She  also  taught  them  home  culture 
and  how  to  entertain  friends  and  guests.  Their  name  was  Mur- 
ray, and  my  father  fell  in  love  with  the  second  eldest  daughter 
whose  name  was  Rachael  Murray.  He  did  not  acquaint  me  with 
the  fact  that  he  had  married,  nor  was  I  aware  of  anything  that 
had  taken  place  outside  of  my  room.  When  he  brought  his 
bride  to  his  home  he  informed  one  of  the  female  servants  that 
he  wished  her  to  bring  me  to  the  parlor.  When  I  entered  the 
parlor  I  was  aware  there  was  another  female  present,  as  my 
sense  of  feeling,  touch  and  influence  had  become  very  acute  as 
I  grew  to  womanhood.  I  judged  the  maid  had  left  me  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  room.  My  father  addressed  me.  He  spoke 
in  a  very  cold  manner  and  with  a  great  deal  of  pomp,  saying, 


216         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

"Julia  Hawthorne,  this  lidy  is  my  bride  and  wife — your  future 
stepmother."  When  he  pronounced  those  words  a  cold  shudder 
or  shiver  went  through  my  whole  body.  I  thought  to  myself, 
"Oh,  God!  Will  I  have  to  contend  with  another  mother?"  Just 
then  I  heard  a  light  step  and  the  rustling  of  a  lady's  garment. 
This  female  took  both  my  hand  in  hers  and  said,  "Julia,  dear, 
you  shall  not  call  me  mother;  you  shall  call  me  sister  Rachael, 
for  I  feel  that  we  can  become  loving  sisters."  She  took  me  in 
her  arms  and  kissed  me — and  Oh,  God !  what  a  glow  of  life  went 
through  my  body,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  the  whole  world  had 
become  bright  in  that  moment.  That  warm,  loving  kiss  seemed 
to  change  my  whole  life,  for  I  never  felt  the  affectionate  kiss  of 
a  female  before.  The  only  kiss  that  I  had  ever  received  was 
that  kiss  my  brother  gave  me  when  he  fell  dead  at  my  feet.  I 
said  to  my  father's  wife,  "Oh,  lady,  I  know  that  you  are  kind 
and  gentle ;  something  within  my  soul  tells  me  so.  I  wish,  dear 
lady,  I  could  see  your  face/'  She  led  me  to  a  sofa  where  we 
both  sat  down,  then  she  put  her  arm  around  me,  saying,  "Julia, 
I  want  you  to  love  me,  for  I  know  I  shall  love  you."  I  said, 
"Kind  lady,  my  soul  tells  me  I  love  you  now."  She  said,  "You 
must  call  me  Sister  Rachael,  and  I  will  call  you  Sister  Julia." 

Then  my  father  spoke  and  said,  "Aly  dear,  the  maid  will 
show  you  to  your  room,"  speaking  to  the  maid  who  stood  near 
by.  He  said,  "Fannie,  this  is  your  mistress  and  my  wife.  You 
will  show  the  lady  to  her  room."  He  came  toward  his  wife,  tak- 
ing her  in  his  arms  he  kissed  her,  saying,  "My  dear,  now  you 
are  in  your  future  home  and  you  are  the  mistress  of  everything 
here.  The  servants  will  obey  your  every  wish.  I  will  now 
leave  you  and  return  at  five  o'clock  this  evening.  That  is  our 
dinner  hour.  I  must  go  down  town  and  see  how  things  have 
progressed  while  I  have  been  absent  for  two  weeks.  You  must 
try  and  make  yourself  at  home  until  I  return,  then  I  will  show 
you  over  the  house."  She  put  her  arms  around  my  waist  and 
taking  one  of  my  hands  in  hers,  said,  "Dear  husband,  I  shall  al- 
ways feel  at  home  when  I  have  Sister  Julia  with  me,  for  I  never 
can  be  lonely  in  her  company.  Dear  husband,  she  and  I  will 
have  much  to  say  to  each  other,"  and  then  she  kissed  me.  Oh, 
sir,  if  I  could  only  express  to  you  how  happy  I  was  then,  as  I 
never  had  been  accustomed  to  such  affection.  I  trembled  and 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  217 

laid  my  head  upon  her  shoulder,  then  I  burst  into  tears,  sobbing 
very  hard.  I  held  her  tight,  for  I  was  afraid  I  should  lose  her. 
Just  then  my  father  came  up  and  kissed  his  wife,  saying,  "I  will 
leave  you  now."  She  said,  "You  have  forgotten  to  kiss  Julia." 
He  said,  "That  is  so."  Then  he  kissed  me,  while  my  head  was 
lying  upon  her  breast.  It  was  the  first  kiss  my  father  had  ever 
placed  upon  my  lips.  He  withdrew  from  the  room  and  we 
were  left  alone,  with  the  exception  of  the  maid.  Rachael  ad- 
dressed the  maid,  saying,  "Now,  Fannie,  you  will  show  me  to 
my  room.  Come,  Sister  Julia,  you  will  help  me  to  unpack  my 
trunk  and  we  will  have  a  sociable  chat  together."  She  led  me 
upstairs,  following  the  maid,  who  showed  her  where  the  room 
was.  When  we  entered  the  room,  she  placed  me  in  a  rocking 
chair,  saying  to  Fannie,  "Now,  let's  see  if  you  and  I  can't  undo 
the  strap  of  my  trunk."  When  they  had  accomplished  it  she 
said,  "Fannie,  you  will  go  and  bring  a  tea  set  here  to  my  room, 
consisting  of  three  cups  and  saucers,  a  sugar  bowl,  cream  pitcher 
and  slop  bowl,  and  you  will  bring  a  large  pitcher  of  hot  water 
and  some  cake  if  you  have  it,  for  we  three  women  are  going  to 
have  a  sociable  cup  of  tea."  The  girl  laughed  and  said,  "Yes, 
my  lady."  \Vhen  Fannie  had  left  the  room  in  order  to  attend  to 
her  mistress's  wants  and  was  out  of  hearing,  my  father's  wife 
turned  and  said  to  me,  "Now,  Sister  Julia,  you  and  I  must  have 
no  secrets  from  each  other.  We  must  become  sisters  in  every 
sense  of  the  word.  First,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  that  I  believe 
in  Spiritualism.  Perhaps  you  do  not  understand  what  I  mean 
by  that."  I  said  in  reply,  "Is  it  where  the  dead  come  back  and 
talk  to  the  living?"  She  said,  "It  is  where  the  living  come  back 
and  talk  to  the  living.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  death,  Julia. 
I  saw  you  through  the  clairvoyant  power  a  year  ago.  You  spoke 
and  said  to  me  'Rachael,  we  will  become  sisters.  It  is  in  your 
destiny  to  marry  my  father.'  So,  you  see  it  has  come  to  pass. 
We  are  not  only  sisters  in  the  body  but  we  arc  sisters  through 
soul  attraction.  Now,  we  shall  spend  many  loveable  hours 
tog-ether  talking  of  the  spirit  and  the  spirit  world." 

Just  then  Fannie  entered  with  the  tea  tray  and  placed  it  on 
the  table.  Mrs.  Hawthorne  then  said.  "Xo\v,  Fannie,  shut  the 
door  and  \ve  three  women  will  have  a  sociable  chat."  Fannie 
said,  "Do  you  mean  me.  my  lady,  as  the  third  party?"  Mrs. 


218        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Hawthorne  said,  "To  be  sure,  I  do,  and  now  we  will  draw  the 
table  up  in  front  of  Julia,  and  we  will  all  sit  around  the  table, 
while  I  brew  each  one  a  cup  of  tea,"  and  when  she  had  said  so, 
loud  raps  came  on  the  table,  which  startled  Fannie  and  me.  She 
said,  "Oh,  don't  be  afraid,  girls,  it  is  only  my  spirit  friends,  rap- 
ping to  welcome  me  to  my  new  home."  Fannie  said,  "My  lady, 
do  spirits  make  those  kind  of  raps?"  She  said,  "Oh,  yes;  that  is 
their  method  of  communicating  with  us  in  the  body."  Just  then 
I  experienced  a  happy  feeling.  She  looked  at  us — that  is,  I  felt 
she  did  so — as  she  remained  silent  for  a  few  minutes,  when  a 
loud  rap  came  on  the  table,  which  caused  Fannie  to  jump  from 
her  chair,  and  that  was  the  means  of  us  all  having  a  hearty 
laugh.  Fannie  said,  "Oh,  pshaw,  what  a  fool  I  am ;  I  don't  be- 
lieve spirits  would  hurt  us.  Do  you  think  they  would,  my 
lady?"  Mrs.  Hawthorne  said,  "No,  Fannie;  there  is  someone 
here  that  wishes  to  communicate.  Now,  we  .will  have  them 
spell  their  name  by  raps."  Mrs.  Hawthorne  secured  paper  and 
pencil.  They  spelled  out  the  name  "Henry  Hawthorne."  I 
said,  "Oh,  Sister  Rachael,  that  is  my  brother's  name."  She  said, 
"Your  brother's  name?  Why,  I  was  not  aware  that  you  had  a 
brother."  I  said,  "Oh,  yes;  I  told  you  of  his  vision  and  how  he 
fell  dead  at  my  feet."  She  said,  "That  is  strange,  your  father 
never  told  me  he  had  a  son."  Then  the  raps  spelled  out,  "Dear 
Sister  Julia,  now  you  are  going  to  be  happy  and  this  lady  will 
only  be  a  bride  of  a  year.  Reverses  in  the  world  are  going  to 
come  to  father.  He  will  keep  losing  his  money  by  making  bad 
investments,  and  finally  he  will  become  bankrupt  and  commit 
suicide.  You  then  can  bring  your  talent  into  use  by  singing 
in  church  and  at  concerts.  This  lady  is  too  sensible  to  be 
shocked  at  any  news  that  she  might  receive  from  the  spirit  side 
of  life.  She  grew  into  womanhood  in  the  midst  of  spiritual  sur- 
roundings. She  is  what  the  people  of  the  world  must  recognize 
in  time  as  a  spiritual  medium,  a  go  between  the  earth  world 
and  the  spirit  world.  I  mean  by  that  the  spirits  will  control  her 
organization  and  lecture  from  the  public  platform." 

It  all  came  to  pass.  She  became  Rachel  Hawthorne,  the  lec- 
turer, and  I  became  a  public  singer.  Father  inside  of  one  year 
committed  suicide.  Then  Rachel  Hawthorne  gave  up  the  large 
house  and  purchased  a  smaller  one.  We  moved  into  the  small 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  219 

house,  taking  Fanny,  the  maid,  with  us.  In  time  she  became 
Fanny  Allen,  the  medium,  and  was  looked  upon  as  a  wonderful 
test  medium.  The  people  in  New  York  called  her  "Fanny  the 
prophetess."  I  became  a  public  singer.  I  sang  in  churches,  in 
concerts  and  also  at  receptions  in  private  homes.  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt  engaged  me  at  five  different  times  to  sing  at  private 
receptions  at  his  home.  I  sang  at  A.  T.  Stewart's  home  on 
seven  different  occasions.  I  could  give  the  names  of  many  fam- 
ilies in  New  York  at  whose  homes  I  sang  on  different  occasions. 
I  sang  at  I.  N.  Singer's,  the  sewing  machine  man,  who  had  a 
beautiful  home  on  Fifth  Avenue.  On  one  occasion  he  presented 
me  with  beautiful  diamond  earrings,  of  which  I  was  very  proud, 
as  I  never  had  owned  a  jewel  of  any  kind  until  my  brother  had 
placed  those  diamond  rings  on  my  fingers.  Those  rings  I  sold 
for  money  to  assist  in  our  housekeeping  after  my  father  had  lost 
his  property  and  committed  suicide. 

Now  I  will  relate  where  I  first  met  your  medium.  It  was 
at  the  Logan  home  in  New  York.  They  had  engaged  me  to  sing 
at  a  reception  on  a  certain  afternoon.  They  also  secured  the 
services  of  Fanny  Allen  as  a  test  medium.  There  were  many 
present  that  afternoon.  I  will  endeavor  to  give  you  the  names 
of  the  guests  who  were  present.  Mrs.  Logan,  Olive  and  Eliza 
Logan  and  a  gentleman  whose  name  I  think  was  William  Lo- 
gan ;  the  two  Gary  sisters  were  there,  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary, 
and  also  a  brother  of  theirs  whose  first  name  I  do  not  seem  to 
remember;  Rachel  Hawthorne,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  F.  Taylor,  I.  N. 
Singer,  wife  and  daughter ;  a  Miss  Lizzie  Weston  Daven- 
port, who  was  an  actress,  (Rachel  told  me  she  was  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  women  she  ever  saw),  a  Joseph  Jefferson,  whom 
Rachel  said  was  also  an  actor;  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  L.  Davenport, 
who  were  celebrated  theatrical  people  at  that  time.  Mrs.  Dav- 
enport invited  Rachel  Hawthorne,  Fanny  Allen  and  myself  to 
attend  the  performance  of  the  Merchant  of  Venice.  Their  voices 
that  evening  sounded  grand,  but  I  could  not  see  them  act.  Sis- 
ter Rachel  said  Mr.  Davenport  placed  us  in  a  private  box,  but 
all  I  could  tell  was  that  I  sat  on  a  chair  and  listened  to  the  or- 
chestra playing  some  very  nice  waltz  music.  After  that  I  heard 
those  beautiful,  rich  voices  speaking.  On  the  same  afternoon 
there  was  present  a  poet  or  literary  individual  whose  name  was 


220         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

James  Russell  Lowell,  and  another  one  whom  they  called  Mr. 
Edgar  Poe.  Mr.  Lowell  and  Mr.  Emerson  came  over  and  sat 
by  me  and  paid  me  some  flattering  compliments  about  my  sing- 
ing, which  pleased  me  very  much.  After  we  had  been  there  a 
little  while  a  Mr.  Warren  and,  they  said,  little  Justin  Warren, 
were  announced.  Those  are  the  names  I  heard  them  speak. 
That  little  Justin  is  this  medium.  That  lady  they  called  Laura 
Keene  gave  a  recitation  from  Romeo  and  Juliet,  which  sounded 
beautiful.  I  only  wished  I  could  have  seen  her  face.  After  her 
I  sang  again,  then  little  Justin  recited  the  poem,  "Beautiful 
Snow."  After  him  came  the  lady  they  called  Miss  Lizzie  Weston 
Davenport.  She  sat  at  the  piano  and  played  and  sang  beauti- 
fully. There  were  many  selections  given  that  afternoon.  As  it 
will  take  too  much  space  I  will  not  describe  them  all,  but  there 
is  one  I  will  describe.  Little  Justin  sang  a  piece  in  which  he 
said,  "I'm  only  little  chatterbox.  Accustomed  to  lots  of  big 
knocks,  For  sometimes  I  run  against  big  rocks  and  hurt  my  toes 
when  I  haven't  got  on  my  socks."  Miss  Alice  Logan  said  to 
me,  "Julia  dear,  I  wish  you  could  see  the  Little  One  act  while 
he  sings."  I  know  it  must  have  been  good,  for  after  he  had  fin- 
ished there  was  lots  of  applause  and  much  laughter.  When  they 
had  all  quieted  down  Miss  Logan  said,  "Puss,  come  over  here. 
I  want  to  introduce  you  to  my  friend,  Miss  Julia  Hawthorne." 
He  grasped  my  hand  with  a  very  friendly  grasp  and  as  he  looked 
up  into  my  face  he  said,  "Oh,  lady,  you  are  blind,  ain't  you?" 
I  said,  "I  am,  dear."  He  said,  "Oh,  that  is  too  bad,  for  you  have 
got  such  a  pretty  face  and  I  think  you  sing  beautifully.  I  did 
not  know  you  were  blind  when  you  stood  by  the  piano  and  sang. 
Oh,  I  am  sorry,  but  just  think  how  happy  you  must  be  to  own 
such  a  magnificent  voice.  I  wish  you  could  see  Papa  Warren. 
He  is  such  a  handsome  man  and  is  so  kind  to  ladies.  Now,  lady, 
you  must  come  and  see  me  play.  Oh,  I  forgot — you  can't  see 
me,  can  you?  But  you  can  hear  me  talk  and  sing.  We've  got 
such  beautiful  singers  in  our  company,  and  I  know  you  would 
like  to  hear  them."  He  called  out,  "Papa  Warren,  come  over 
here.  I  want  you  to  see  this  lady."  Mr.  Warren  came  towards 
us  and  lie  introduced  us.  1  noticed  Mr.  Warren  had  a  rich, 
manly  voice.  It  was  so  different  from  the  Little  One's  gentle 
soprano  voice.  He  said,  "Xow  Papa  Warren,  I  want  you  to 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  221 

write  out  a  pass  for  this  lady  and  all  the  other  ladies  she  wants 
to  bring.  Mr.  Warren  said,  "Perhaps  she  will  fill  the  thea- 
tre with  all  her  lady  friends,"  which  made  us  laugh.  The  Little 
One  said,  "Oh,  I  don't  mean  that;  you  know,  papa,  what  I  mean, 
make  the  pass  out  for  this  lady  and  three  or  four  others;  that's 
what  I  mean."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "My  Little  One  means  all 
right,  but  he  has  a  way  of  his  own  in  conveying  his  ideas  to  peo- 
ple." "Now  you  will  come,  won't  you?"  he  said,  when  Mr.  War- 
ren had  placed  the  pass  in  my  hand.  He  said,  "Now  I  am  going 
to  kiss  you,"  and  with  that  he  jumped  into  my  lap  and  kissed 
me.  After  he  got  off  my  lap  he  said,  "Now,  papa,  will  you,  too?" 
I  think  I  must  have  blushed,  for  my  cheeks  felt  hot,  when  Mr. 
Warren  said,  "Perhaps  the  lady  would  not  like  to  have  me  kiss 
her."  He  said,  "Oh  yes,  she  would,  if  she  only  saw  how  hand- 
some you  are,"  which  brought  a  laugh  from  the  people  in  the 
room.  He  said,  "Now  you  kiss,  or  I'll  kick  you — you  don't  get 
a  chance  to  kiss  such  a  pretty  face  every  day,"  which  caused  an- 
other laugh.  So  Mr.  Warren  had  to  kiss  me  in  order  to  please 
the  Little  One.  That  was  my  first  introduction  to  Little  Jus- 
tin. I  met  him  a  number  of  times  afterwards  at  concerts.  Mrs. 
Logan  asked  all  the  guests  if  they  would  not  join  in  singing, 
"The  Campbells  are  Coming,"  which  was  a  favorite  song  of  hers. 
The  guests  were  served  with  a  light  repast,  after  which  we  bade 
one  another  good  by.  That  was  a  happy  afternoon  to  me  as  I 
had  received  so  many  flattering  compliments,  something  I  \vas 
not  accustomed  to  in  my  younger  days. 

On  the  way  home  sister  Rachel  said,  "Julia,  your  face  has 
such  a  happy  expression ;  do  you  feel  happy  this  afternoon  ?" 
I  said  I  did  and  that  I  should  never  forget  that  afternoon.  She 
said,  "I  am  glad  to  know  that  you  are  so  happy."  I  said,  "I  amr 
but  wasn't  that  a  strange  little  creature  that  got  up  into  my  lap 
and  kissed  me?  His  mother  must  have  loved  his  father  very 
dearly,  for  I  knew  when  his  lather  kissed  me  it  was  the  kiss  of 
a  noble  man,  God  bless  him.  Rachel.  I  am  in  love  with  that 
man — it  may  be  a  crime,  but  I  cannot  help  it.  The  blind  have 
a  right  to  love  as  well  as  those  that  can  see.  I  read  his  soul — it 
was  noble.  My  fate  is  sealed,  Rachel.  T  tell  you,  me  and  my 
love  belongs  to  that  man.  no  matter  what  my  end  may  be  ;  the 
die  is  fixed  and  cast  in  the  shadow  of  mv  life." 


THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

We  will  continue  at  another  time,  as  they  tell  me  I  must 
not  hold  the  medium  any  longer. 

Thursday,  February  26,  1902. 

Friend,  the  sky  is  a  little  clearer  today  than  it  was  yester- 
day. Now  we  will  take  up  part  of  my  life. 

I  loved  Mr.  Warren  with  my  whole  soul  and  had  a  desire  to 
become  his  wife.  Rachel,  Fanny  and  myself  attended  the  per- 
formance at  the  theatre  where  Little  Justin  was  playing.  Mr. 
Warren  sat  in  the  box  with  us  during  the  performance.  He  sat 
next  to  me  and  I  think  I  was  one  of  the  happiest  women  in  the 
world  that  evening.  He  said  he  would  see  us  home  to  our  dwell- 
ing and  then  return  for  his  Little  One.  When  we  passed  out  of 
the  theatre  on  to  the  sidewalk  he  called  a  carriage  and  we  were 
conveyed  to  our  home,  Mr.  Warren  acting  as  gallant.  He  bade 
us  good  night  and  returned  in  the  carriage  to  the  theatre.  I 
became  so  infatuated  with  that  man  that  I  became  bold  enough 
to  ask  him  to  marry  me,  telling  him  that  I  would  earn  all  the 
money  that  I  possibly  could  with  my  voice.  He  said  he  could 
not  marry  me  nor  any  other  woman,  as  that  was  an  impossi- 
bility. He  \vas  already  wedded  and  it  was  his  duty  to  take  care 
of  the  Little  One  as  long  as  he  lived  in  the  body.  I  judge  that 
some  women  will  be  shocked  by  their  false  modesty  when  they 
read  that  I  was  so  bold  as  to  ask  a  man  to  marry  me.  I  do  not 
see  why  a  woman  should  not  ask  a  man  to  marry  her,  as  he  takes 
that  liberty  of  asking  a  woman  to  marry  him.  AYe  are  all  child- 
ren of  the  same  God  in  nature  and  should  have  the  same  privi- 
leges in  life. 

Xow  I  am  going  to  tell  you  something  that  perhaps  would 
shock  you  as  a  man,  but  if  you  understand  the  law  of  reason  and 
soul  attraction  it  will  be  otherwise.  Your  sensibility  will  not 
feel  degraded  in  listening  to  what  I  have  to  say.  I  bore  Mr. 
Warren  a  son,  not  under  the  bonds  of  wedlock,  as  no  priest  had 
pronounced  a  benediction  upon  us.  I  was  proud  to  be  the  mo- 
ther of  that  son.  Understand  me,  I  do  not  advocate  free  lust  or 
free  license.  I  was  just  as  pure  and  as  moral  as  any  woman  that 
ever  lived.  I  am  now  the  soul  mate  of  Mr.  Warren  in  spirit  life. 
Our  souls  were  attracted  to  each  other,  which  created  a  divinity 
in  our  natures  and  I  gave  birth  to  one  of  the  finest  men  that 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE  223 

ever  lived  in  a  body.  There  were  no  marriage  vows  required  in 
our  condition,  as  we  were  soul  mates.  But  marriage  is  the 
proper  thing  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  as  it  protects  the  mother 
and  the  children  in  their  rights.  My  child  was  christened  in  the 
old  Methodist  church  on  Allen  street,  New  York  City,  by  Mr. 
Taylor.  I  gave  him  the  name  of  George  C.  Warren.  When  he 
grew  to  manhood  he  became  the  president  of  a  fire  insurance 
company.  A  nobler  man  and  a  more  dutiful  son  never  lived.  He 
took  care  of  me  in  my  old  age  and  granted  me  my  every  wish. 
He  married  a  beautiful  girl,  whom  I  think  had  one  of  the  hap- 
piest dispositions  I  ever  met.  I  was  proud  of  my  son,  proud 
of  my  daughter  and  proud  of  my  grandchildren.  I  think  I  had 
some  of  the  sweetest  grandchildren  that  ever  came  to  earth  to 
live  in  a  body.  There  were  nine  in  all.  My  son  was  noted  for 
his  scholarship  and  he  graduated  with  high  honors.  He  was 
not  only  a  gentleman  scholar  but  he  was  a  gentleman  in  every 
ligament  of  his  body,  just  as  his  father  was  before  him.  My 
son  had  a  highly  developed  brain  and  was  what  you  would  call 
a  religious  man. 

Now  I  shall  give  you  another  expression ;  perhaps  it  will 
not  shock  you  and  many  others,  but  it  may  possibly  shock  a 
class  of  namby  pamby  men  that  claim  great  morality,  while  at 
the  .same  time  they  are  hypocrites  of  the  worst  kind.  I  will  give 
you  to  understand,  friend,  that  not  all  men's  children  are  born 
in  wedlock — many  a  good  husband  and  father  who  loves  his 
wife  and  children  and  would  sacrifice  his  life  for  them,  at  the 
same  time  have  become  fathers  outside  of  their  family  circle, 
and  such  was  the  case  with  Mr.  Warren,  my  spirit  mate.  Since 
he  came  to  spirit  life  he  has  made  a  discovery.  He  is  the  father 
of  twenty-five  boys  and  seven  girls.  Don't  you  think,  friend, 
that  many  that  bear  false  modesty  in  the  world  will  profess  to 
be  shocked  at  what  I  now  tell  you?  I  have  been  permitted,  and 
received  the  commission  from  Mr.  Warren,  to  tell  you  the  truth. 
He  says  that  at  one  time  he  was  forced  into  a  marriage  while 
under  the  influence  of  liquor,  to  a  woman  whom  he  could  never 
call  wife.  He  says  he  loved  the  Little  One.  That  is  the  me- 
dium. While  he  lived  in  the  body  he  discovered  he  was  selected 
by  a  spirit  band  to  become  the  guardian  of  Justin,  or  Justine,  as 
he  was  christened.  He  was  the  guardian  of  Justin  while  he 


224        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

lived  in  the  physical  body.  There  was  an  element  that  laid  in 
his  make-up  that  was  of  great  assistance  to  the  Little  One  while 
carrying  out  his  duties  as  private  spy  to  President  Lincoln. 

I  am  going  to  give  you  a  little  history  of  the  Warren  family 
or  Warren  race.  One  of  my  father's  grandmothers  was  a  War- 
ren. The  name  Warren  originally  was  Wren,  spelled  W-r-e-n. 
As  far  back  as  I  can  trace  them,  their  origin  came  from  Norway. 
In  the  early  days  of  Norway,  people  were  called  after  animals 
and  birds.  In  the  early  days  of  Scotland  there  was  a  Norway 
bark  wrecked  on  the  Scottish  shore  and  a  number  of  men  were 
washed  on  to  the  beach.  Two  of  them  were  brothers,  and  bore 
the  name  of  Wren.  They  married  native  women  and  from  them 
came  the  Warrens.  In  the  early  days  of  the  wars  between 
the  Scottish  tribes  and  the  English  tribes  there  were  Wrens, 
but  in  the  Gaelic  language  they  pronounced  their  name  Rang- 
heen,  that  is  the  Gaelic,  but  in  English,  Wren.  In  Oliver  Crom- 
well's war  one  of  his  officers  was  named  Wren.  After  the  war 
was  over  this  man  settled  in  a  part  of  England  now  called  Bir- 
mingham. He  married  a  maid  of  England,  settled  down  to  house- 
keeping and  called  himself  War  Wren,  meaning  that  he  had 
been  a  soldier  in  the  war,  and  all  those  that  are  on  his  side  of  the 
house  bear  the  name  of  Warren.  Xow  this  man  who  lives  here 
in  your  little  valley  in  the  mountains  who  bears  the  name  of 
Meyer,  one  of  his  great  ancestors  on  his  mother's  side  was  a 
Wren  from  Norway,  so  really  you  see  the  Warren  or  Wren  blood 
is  in  his  life  line. 

Now  I  am  going  to  show  to  you  or  in  other  words  explain 
something  of  the  Hulburd  blood.  My  mother's  grandfather  was 
a  Hulburd  and  spelled  his  name  Hulbird.  You  must  understand 
that  in  the  different  families  hundreds  of  years  ago  some  of  the 
sons  had  a  desire  to  create  a  new  name.  They  would  change 
their  name  in  such  a  way  that  in  the  spelling  of  it  today  it  would 
almost  be  impossible  to  see  any  resemblance  to  the  original 
name.  During  the  reign  of  James  the  First  one  of  his  favorites 
was  a  Hulburd,  but  he  changed  the  spelling  of  his  name  to  please 
the  king,  and  he  spelled  it  Helbert.  One  of  his  sons  did  not 
like  the  way  in  which  his  father's  name  was  spelled  and  he 
changed  it  to  Hulbert,  and  from  him  comes  the  Hulberts  of 
America.  There  was  one  man  who  lived  in  Manchester,  Eng- 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE 

land,  who  spelled  his  name  Hulburd.  His  second  eldest  son 
changed  the  spelling  of  his  name  to  Hulbert,  and  the  Hulberts 
of  the  early  days  of  South  Carolina  were  from  this  man.  The 
eldest  son  of  this  Manchester  gentleman  spelled  his  name  Hul- 
burd, like  his  father,  his  baptismal  name  being  Obed.  From  him 
came,  or  as  you  call  it,  descended,  the  family  of  the  New  York 
Hulburds.  That  gentleman  in  England  who  bore  the  name  of 
Hulburd  and  settled  down  in  Manchester,  was  Ephriam  Obed 
Hulburd.  He  was  the  great  great  grandfather  of  Prof.  Hulburd, 
the  great  scientist  of  Xew  York,  who  at  one  time  lived  on  Sec- 
ond Avenue  near  13th  street.  New  York  City.  His  great  great 
granc'father  and  your  great  great  grandfather  were  brothers. 

Now  I  will  take  up  part  of  the  little  medium's  life.  One  of 
his  great  great  grandmothers  was  Wren,  as  you  would  pronounce 
it  in  English.  His  grandmother  on  his  father's  side  was  a  Bruce. 
His  mother's  name  was  Mary  Elizabeth  Stuart.  His  father's 
name  was  Justin  Hulburd,  whose  father's  name  was  John  Hul- 
burd, and  a  brother  of  your  grandfather;  their  mother's  name 
was  Warren,  so  you  see  all  through  the  medium's  life  the  Hul- 
burds and  the  Warrens  are  connected  down  from  the  name  of 
Wren.  There  runs  in  his  veins  the  blood  of  the  Wrens,  the 
Bruces,  the  Stuarts  and  the  Hulburds.  So  you  see  how  people 
intermingle  through  the  condition  of  marriage.  By  tracing  one's 
lineage  back  there  is  a  mingling  of  races  and  families.  You  see, 
I  have  also  discovered  there  is  Hulburd  blood  in  my  race.  too. 
I  can  really  claim  relationship  to  you,  but  it  is  distant.  You 
may  think  it  strange  why  people  come  together  and  in  the  body 
you  really  cannot  tell  why  this  is  so  until  you  have  traced  up 
your  lineage.  The  decree  or  law  of  heredity  compels  those 
conditions  to  take  place  and  through  constant  re-embodiment  it 
comes  to  pass  when  you  have  once  been  connected  through  the 
law  of  generation,  for  generating  is  the  power  of  vitality  in  life 
in  Wisdom's  religion,  which  means  Truth.  There  is  no  religion 
higher  than  Truth. 

I  wish  now  to  acquaint  you  with  the  fact  that  my  spirit  mate 
and  myself  are  little  sunbeams  in  the  train  of  Searchlight,  who 
are  in  constant  attendance,  listening  to  the  communications  that 
she  is  constantly  giving  to  spirits  that  they  might  convey  them 
to  the  children  of  earth.  It  is  onlv  through  re-embodiment  that 


226          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

we  can  become  perfect  and  one  with  the  God  of  Nature,  the 
great  ruling  principle  throughout  all  life. 

And  now,  friend,  I  want  to  thank  you  for  taking  down  my 
communication.  Miss  Frances  Willard  thinks  that  part  of  my 
life  will  be  interetsing  to  some  of  the  readers  of  your  book.  I 
wish  you  to  understand,  friend,  that  I  look  upon  the  law  of  mor- 
ality as  one  of  the  highest  laws  in  nature  and  through  re-em- 
bodiment God's  children  will  all  become  moral  and  perfect.  The 
divinity  in  our  natures  has  a  moral  code  and  we  can  only  reveal 
it  through  the  unfoldment  of  our  perfect  lives. 

I  leave  my  love  for  Little  Justin,  whom  Mr.  Warren  loved 
and  thought  he  was  the  most  perfect  being,  outside  of  his  child- 
ish pranks,  that  he  ever  saw.  He  loved  Little  Justin  with  a  fa- 
ther's love  and  says  the  years  he  lived  with  the  Little  One  were 
the  happiest  in  all  his  life  during  that  embodiment.  He  said 
when  he  found  the  Little  One  and  they  took  up  their  tent  to- 
gether he  was  the  most  innocent  child  for  his  age  that  he  ever 
met,  full  of  pranks  and  mischief.  He  said  it  looked  to  him  as  if 
it  was  impossible  for  his  Little  One  to  keep  his  hands  and  feet 
still  only  when  he  was  asleep  in  bed;  sometimes  then  he  would 
kick  him  in  his  sleep.  He  said  the  great  delight  of  the  Little 
One  was  to  play  circus,  so  he  would  lie  down  on  the  floor  and 
play  circus  with  him,  for  you  must  know  that  Justin  was  a  dwarf 
until  he  was  forty  years  old,  only  measuring  four  feet.  After 
he  was  forty  he  grew  almost  a  foot  in  height.  My  spirit  mate 
says  he  was  one  of  the  most  mischievous  little  creatures  that 
ever  lived.  He  would  spring  on  one's  back  and  before  they  knew 
it  he  would  be  standing  on  their  shoulders.  He  said  that  was 
happiness  to  him  to  have  the  Little  One  do  so.  He  also  says 
the  Little  One  used  to  cry  and  laugh,  it  seemed  to  him,  in  the 
same  breath.  I  have  listened  to  a  spirit  who  bore  the  name  of 
Edwin  Forrest  and  was  a  great  actor  when  he  lived  in  the  body. 
I  have  heard  him  tell  spirits  that  it  broke  his  heart  when  the 
Little  One  was  taken  from  him  and  given  over  to  Mr.  Warren 
by  a  spirit  power  which  he  did  not  understand  at  the  time.  He 
said  he  loved  the  Little  One,  with  all  his  childish  pranks,  and  if 
ever  you  saw  a  beautiful  little  creature  it  was  when  the  Little 
One  was  angry.  Oh,  those  eyes  were  beautiful  when  fire  flashed 
from  them,  as  it  seemed  to  do.  He  would  kick  Mr.  Forrest  with 


JULIA  HAWTHORNE 

all  his  force,  he  said,  and  call  him  the  worst  actor  that  was  ever 
on  the  stage.  "You  just  wait  till  I  am  six  feet  tall,  then,  you  old 
duffer,  you  will  have  to  play  supe  to  me."  Then,  Mr.  Forrest 
said,  he  would  grab  the  Little  One  in  his  arms  and  kiss  and  hug 
him  so  tight  the  Little  One  would  cry  out  with  pain.  When  he 
had  released  him  he  would  stamp  his  little  foot  and  say,  "I  know 
why  you  squeeze  me  so  hard — you  are  jealous  because  I  got  so 
much  applause  last  night."  Oh,  sir,  it  is  amusing  to  hear  the 
spirit  of  Edwin  Forrest  relate  the  little  scenes  that  would  take 
place  between  him  and  Little  Justin.  I  thank  you  once  more. 
Put  me  down  as  Julia,  the  blind  singer,  that  is  the  name  I  was 
known  by  to  the  public.  Good  day,  sir. 

There  is  one  point  that  I  forgot  that  Miss  Frances  Willard 
wished  me  to  say  and  that  is,  my  sister  Rachel  Hawthorne,  or  in 
a  worldly  way  of  speaking,  my  stepmother,  bore  my  father  a 
beautiful  boy,  who  was  the  pride  of  our  family.  He  grew  into 
manhood  and  was  known  as  Charles  Hawthorne.  He  wrote 
under  the  nom-de-plume  of  Joe  Jenkins.  He  gave  to  the  public 
many  funny  little  tales.  Since  I  have  come  to  spirit  life  he  tells 
me  he  was  my  deformed  brother  Henry  reincarnated  again 
through  the  womb  of  sister  Rachel.  He  passed  from  his  body 
to  spirit  life  at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  I  lived  in  my  body  to  the 
age  of  ninety-eight,  which  you  would  call  an  old  lady,  but  I  re- 
tained my  faculties  to  the  last  and  lived  to  see  the  sixth  gene- 
ration. Good  day. 


Neil  Bryant 

Chapter  XV 

Friday,  May  9,  1902. 

Well,  how  are  you?  I  don't  think  I  have  met  you  before. 
I  have  met  many  of  the  Little  One's  friends,  but  your  face  is 
not  familiar  to  me.  I  was  persuaded  by  several  of  his  friends 
to  come  here  today.  But  first  let  me  tell  you  I  am  Irish.  Irish 
born  in  America.  I  was  born  a  Catholic,  baptized  a  Catholic, 
brought  up  a  Catholic — don't  believe  a  damn  word  in  it,  for  the 
whole  thing  is  man  made  and  full  of  superstition.  When  I  lived 
in  the  body  all  my  friends  believed  me  to  be  a  good  Catholic. 
I  kept  quiet  and  said  nothing,  as  my  business  interests  laid 
largely  with  the  church  people.  I  was  a  manager  of  a  theatre 
and  had  to  keep  my  mouth  shut  on  the  religious  question.  I  was 
known  to  the  public  as  Neil  Bryant,  a  man  who  traveled  con- 
siderably while  living  in  a  physical  body  and  saw  life  in  all  its 
phases  and  judged  accordingly. 

Little  Justin  was  one  of  the  strangest  creatures  I  ever  met. 
When  he  was  in  his  prime  the  papers  used  to  speak  of  him  as 
"Bewitching  Justin,  the  Queen  of  Burlesque  Comedy."  I  think 
he  looks  quite  bewitching  lying  here  on  the  lounge  with  his 
white  hair  and  about  as  broad  as  he  is  long.  I  remember,  one 
time  during  my  earth  existence  I  was  talking  to  Mr.  Nordhoff 
of  the  Evening  Post,  who  had  written  a  lengthy  article  about 
Little  Justin  and  his  bewitching  ways.  He  said,  "That  Little 
One  has  fascinated  me  so  entirely  it  is  hard  for  me  to  keep  away 
from  the  theatre.  Neil,  he  must  have  a  lovely  disposition,  he 
looks  so  gentle ;  no  wonder  he  fascinates  the  gallery  boys  when 
dressed  in  female  attire — that  kick  of  hers  would  win  any  male 
heart  over  to  her  side/'  I  said,  "Nordhoff,  that  little  creature 
who  has  fascinated  you  so,  I  think  has  the  worst  temper  I  ever 
saw  in  a  human  being;  he  would  be  good  to  send  out  to  civilize 
the  Hottentots — if  he  could  not  civilize  them  he  would  frighten 
them  to  death.  If  any  one  makes  him  angry  he  swears  like  a 
pirate.  It's  only  this  morning  he  lost  his  temper.  He  swore  so 
that  cold  chills  ran  down  my  back.  Sometimes  when  things 
don't  go  just  right  with  me  I  use  a  few  oaths,  or  perhaps  you 


NEIL  BRYANT  229 

would  call  them  profane  words,  but  that  little  creature  would 
graduate  with  high  honors  and  receive  a  diploma  in  any  art 
school  in  that  line.  I  thought  he  would  fall  into  a  fit,  but  nary 
a  fit.''  Nordhoff  said,  "For  heaven's  sake,  Neil,  don't  get  off 
any  of  your  funny  gags — that's  impossible  that  so  sweet  a  little 
creature  could  swear  so."  I  said,  "You  just  ought  to  hear  him 
once,  then  you  would  say,  'Neil,  that's  a  bottle  on  me.' " 

Now  I  am  going  to  take  you  way  back  to  the  early  days 
of  the  National  Theatre  on  Chatham  street,  New  York  City. 
There  is  where  I  first  saw  him  when  I  was  a  boy.  He  sang, 
danced  and  played.  I  thought  he  was  the  prettiest  little  creature 
I  ever  saw.  He  was  quite  small  then,  but  I  learned  from  some 
of  my  school  associates  that  he  was  older  than  he  looked.  One 
day  I  was  walking  on  Pearl  street  between  Broadway  and 
Chatham  street.  I  saw  two  individuals  coming  along,  when  my 
companion,  Will  Miller,  said,  "There  comes  Joe  Jefferson  and 
Little  Justin  of  the  Chatham  Street  Theatre."  Joe  Jefferson 
was  quite  a  lad  then,  while  Little  Justin  was,  I  should  judge, 
about  three  feet  and  a  half  tall,  between  that  and  four  feet.  Joe 
Jefferson  was  holding  him  by  the  hand  as  they  walked  along. 
That  same  Joe  Jefferson  became  America's  great  comedian,  the 
great  Rip  Van  Winkle  of  the  stage  on  both  sides  of  the  water. 
I  noticed  then  he  was  a  very  handsome  boy.  He  stopped  and 
spoke  to  my  friend  Will  Miller,  who  introduced  me  to  Joe  and 
the  Little  Justin.  While  Will  and  Joe  were  talking  I  was  at- 
tracted to  Little  Justin.  He  looked  up  at  me  and  smiled  with  a 
roguish  wink  in  his  eye,  and  I  tell  you  those  were  eyes,  too.  He 
said,  "Bub,  those  feet  of  yours  look  like  they  were  able  to  cover 
a  good  deal  of  ground  during  the  day,"  which  made  me  laugh. 
At  that  age  I  was  a  gawky  looking  boy  with  good  sized  feet  and 
it  was  very  seldom  a  school  boy  ever  could  trip  me  up.  I  said, 
"Little  One,  would  you  mind  if  I  kissed  you?"  He  said,  "Oh, 
no;  if  you'll  only  use  half  of  those  floppers  of  yours,"  meaning 
my  lips.  I  put  my  arms  around  him  and  kissed  him  with  a  will. 
I  discovered  those  were  a  girl's  lips,  and  not  a  boy's.  After  we 
had  bidden  them  good  bye  and  went  on  our  way  I  said,  "Will, 
I  am  in  love  with  that  Little  One."  Tie  said.  Oh.  don't  make  a 
fool  of  yourself  like  the  rest  of  them,  because  he's  got  a  pretty 
face  people  think  he's  something  extra."  "I  shall  find  out  where 


230          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

he  lives  and  call  on  him."  He  said,  "Well,  you  are  soft,  Neil. 
I  thought  you  had  more  brains  than  that."  We  said  nothing 
further  on  the  question  then,  but  went  our  way,  I  feeling  all 
the  time  I  wanted  to  lick  him. 

I  inquired  and  discovered  where  the  Little  One  lived;  made 
a  call  to  present  him  with  some  oranges.  An  old  lady  with  a 
broad  Scotch  accent  answered  my  knock  at  the  door.  I  in- 
quired if  Little  Justin  lived  there.  She  said,  "Aye,  but  he  dee. 
What  do  you  want  with  the  bairn ;  he  be  layin'  doon  noo." 
She  meant  he  was  asleep.  I  asked  her  if  I  could  walk  in  and 
wait  until  he  had  finished  his  afternoon  nap.  She  said,  "Nae, 
ye  canna  de  that  laddie,  ye  mun  ca  in  about  two  hours.  .  The 
bairn  will  be  up  then.  I  hae  na  time  to  waste  wi'  your  speering 
about  him."  Which  meant  asking  questions  about  him.  I  went 
away,  returning  in  about  three  hours,  was  admitted  to  the  rooms, 
when  I  found  him  sitting  on  her  lap,  she  fixing  his  hair  for  the 
theatre.  I  was  invited  to  take  tea  with  them  and  discovered 
everything  in  the  house  was  in  perfect  neatness.  It  seemed  to 
me  you  could  not  find  a  speck  of  dust  anywhere.  I  was  a  happy 
boy  when  the  Little  One  said,  "Snoozer,  you  can  walk  with  me 
to  the  theatre."  When  we  got  on  to  the  street  he  put  his  little 
hand  in  mine,  then  I  felt  that  I  could  have  fought  all  the  boys 
in  the  Bowery,  with  the  Chatham  street  kids  thrown  in.  I  did 
not  think  then  that  I  would  become  one  of  the  celebrated  Bryant 
Brothers,  of  minstrel  fame.  I  called  at  the  Little  One's  house 
on  several  occasions,  always  bringing  him  a  present  of  fruit. 
The  old  lady  used  to  say  to  me  sometimes,  "Ah,  but  Neil,  I 
wisht  you'd  take  care  of  my  bairn  when  I'm  gone  awa  to  the 
land  o'  the  leal."  By  that  she  meant  it  was  her  desire  for  me  to 
have  him  in  my  keeping  when  she  passed  to  the  spirit  side  of 
life,  but  it  was  otherwise  decreed. 

One  time  during  my  earth  life  a  James  Wilson  and  I  took 
out  a  comedy  company.  In  those  early  days  they  did  not  take 
out  large  companies  traveling  on  the  road.  The  Little  One  was 
our  star.  She  was  the  finest  Marjory  in  "Rough  Diamond"  I 
ever  saw  on  the  stage — the  only  trouble  was,  she  made  such  a 
small  woman  then.  She  was  in  the  keeping  of  a  gentleman  by 
the  name  of  Warren.  I  remember  one  morning  at  rehearsal 
while  the  company  was  playing  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  the 


NEIL  BRYANT  231 

Little  One  got  angry  at  something  I  said,  grabbed  a  hatchet 
that  belonged  to  the  stage  carpenter  and  threw  it  at  me  with  all 
the  strength  and  force  of  his  little  body,  but  fortunately  it  struck 
one  of  the  wings  and  I  escaped  being  mutilated.  When  he 
saw  he  did  not  strike  me  he  cursed  and  swore  at  me  like  a  pi- 
rate, roasting  me  in  hell  and  other  good  places  where  he  thought 
they  would  do  me  justice.  I  thought  then  that  Nordhoff  ought 
to  see  the  sweet  little  creature.  Mr.  Warren  rushed  on  the 
stage  saying,  "Puss,  Puss,  what  does  all  this  mean?"  I  said, 
"Mr.  Warren,  it  simply  means  that  he  tried  to  do  me  up."  When 
he  got  in  one  of  those  high  keys  no  one  could  do  anything  with 
him  but  Mr.  Warren.  Sarah  Melville  fainted  when  she  saw  him 
throw  the  hatchet  at  me.  They  had  to  carry  her  to  a  dressing 
room  and  apply  restoratives  to  bring  her  back.  When  every- 
thing went  all  right  and  no  one  interfered  with  him  a  more  gen- 
tle little  creature  in  a  company  I  never  saw.  He  would  lend 
the  people  of  the  company  anything  that  he  had.  I  must  say 
he  was  the  most  generous  little  creature  I  ever  met.  He  never 
seemed  to  undrestand  the  value  of  money. 

Then  came  on  a  rainy  season  and  we  struck  two  weeks  of 
rainy  weather.  While  we  were  playing  in  Harrisburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, Wilson  and  myself  thought  we  would  have  to  disband 
the  company  as  we  no  longer  could  pay  salaries.  When  the 
Little  One  heard  of  it  he  said,  "No  you  won't,  Papa  Warren 
will  furnish  you  some  money  to  carry  you  over  this  rainy  spell." 
He  addressed  Mr.  Warren,  saying,  "Now,  Papa  \Varren,  you 
just  let  those  duffers  have  some  money  until  we  strike  good 
weather  again."  Mr.  Warren,  being  a  man  of  means,  furnished 
us  with  money  until  we  struck  good  weather  again.  We  paid 
up  back  salaries  first,  then  we  paid  him  what  he  had  lent  us 
($2300)  making  him  a  nice  present  of  a  gold  headed  cane.  Many 
toasts  were  given  on  the  occasion  by  the  members  of  the  com- 
pany, also  the  manager's  health  was  drunk  at  the  same.  We 
went  on  our  way  rejoicing  and  played  as  far  west  as  Chicago, 
returning  by  a  different  route  from  that  by  which  we  went.  We 
disbanded  in  New  York,  as  the  weather  was  very  hot.  On  the 
28th  of  July  we  gave  our  last  performance  at  Concert  Hall  on 
Broadway.  The  company  and  managers  presented  Little  Jus- 
tin with  a  gold  watch  and  letter  in  which  it  was  described.  The 


232         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

presentation  was  made  on  account  of  the  love  and  friendship 
they  bore  towards  him.  I  stood  him  up  on  a  table  in  order  that 
he  might  reply  to  the  friends  for  the  costly  gift  they  had  pre- 
sented him  with.  He  said,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  thank  you 
very  much  for  this  watch,  but  God  help  you  if  it  don't  keep  good 
time."  Then  he  threw  it  up  into  space  like  a  juggler  would  a 
ball  and  caught  it  in  his  hands  when  it  came  down.  Then  he 
held  it  to  his  ear  and  shook  it,  saying,  "Boys  and  girls,  it  is  all 
right.  I  can  hear  it  tick.  I  want  you  to  know  I  love  every  one 
of  you,  if  I  did  kick  some  of  you  when  I  was  mad.  Those  were 
only  love  taps.  Now,  do  you  all  forgive  me  for  being  so  mean? 
If  you  don't,  I'll  go  down  to  Barnum's  and  engage  myself  as  an 
Egyptian  mummy,"  which  set  us  all  to  laughing.  Just  then 
Barnum  played  a  ruse  on  the  American  public  with  his  Egyp- 
tian mummies,  which  turned  out  to  be  stuffed  dummies. 

The  next  time  I  met  the  Little  One  and  Mr.  Warren  was 
while  Justin  was  playing  an  engagement  at  the  Howard  Ath- 
eneum  in  Boston.  Next  time  I  met  him  he  was  playing  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  After  that  I  met  him  one  day  on  Chestnut  street, 
Philadelphia,  in  company  with  Mr.  Warren,  General  Meade  and 
Ainslie  Scott.  He  said  he  was  playing  an  engagement  at  the 
Seventh  Street  Theatre,  near  Arch  street.  I  did  not  see  him 
play  then,  as  I  left  that  afternoon  for  New  York. 

Next  time  I  saw  him  play  was  with  the  Buckley  Serenaders 
at  their  Sumner  Street  Theatre  in  Boston.  He  was  playing  Cin- 
derella. The  next  time  I  saw  him  play  was  at  the  Seventh  Street 
Theatre,  Philadelphia.  They  were  playing  a  burlesque  of  Our 
American  Cousin.  He  played  Flora  Trenchard  and  in  the  bur- 
lesque she  was  constantly  getting  the  American  cousin  into 
trouble  amongst  English  ladies.  It  was  a  fine  piece  of  comedy 
acting,  but  I  noticed  his  singing  voice  was  broken.  He  told  me 
that  he  never  sang  since  he  had  visited  Havana  and  New  Or- 
leans. He  had  a  spell  of  sickness  through  which  he  lost  the 
quality  of  his  singing  voice.  In  burlesque  comedy  he  had  no 
equal. 

The  last  time  I  met  him  he  played  for  my  company  in  the 
"Crushed  Comedian."  He  and  Francis  Wilson  did  some  fine 
comedy  acting.  He  played  the  part  of  Fanny  Chatterbox. 
Francis  Wilson  played  the  part  of  Tony,  the  lover.  They  gave 


NEIL  BRYANT 

imitations  of  actors  and  actresses.  The  scene  from  "Lady  of 
Lyons"  was  a  fine  piece  of  work.  Also  the  balcony  scene  from 
"Romeo  and  Juliet."  His  representation,  or  I  would  say  im- 
personations, of  Madam  Janauscheck,  the  great  German  actress, 
as  Lady  Macbeth  in  the  sleep  walking  scene  was  a  fine  piece  of 
acting.  It  brought  immense  applause  each  night.  I  then  paid 
him  fifty  dollars  a  week  for  his  name.  His  singing  and  dancing 
days  were  past  then,  as  he  was  old.  Still,  in  comedy  and  farces 
he  was  fine.  The  only  thing  you  could  detect  old  age  in  was 
when  his  voice  would  crack  but  the  lower  modulations  of  his 
voice  seemed  to  me  as  perfect  as  ever,  and  he  skipped  around 
like  a  young  girl.  His  acting  in  "None  Such"  was  wonderful 
where  he  jumped  the  skipping  rope,  or  rather  when 
he  danced  the  skipping  rope  hornpipe.  You  would  really 
think  you  were  looking  at  a  young  woman  about  twenty-five 
years  old.  I  could  describe  many  other  of  his  conditions  while 
playing  for  me.  He  and  Francis  Wilson  I  looked  upon  as  the 
two  biggest  cards  in  my  company.  Francis  Wilson  was  a  young 
man  at  that  time.  I  always  said  then  that  sometime  he  would 
make  his  mark  in  the  profession,  and  I  did  not  miss  it. 

Now  when  I  lived  in  the  body  I  believed  in  no  hereafter. 
I  thought  when  the  physical  body  died  that  was  the  last  of  us. 
I  have  discovered  and  also  realized  that  I  was  living  under  a 
big  mistake  then.  To  prove  that  we  always  live  is  that  which 
brings  me  here  today.  I  could  tell  many  things  concerning  Jus- 
tin. I  will  leave  the  rest  to  a  female  spirit  who  will  follow  me. 

Now,  you  give  my  love  to  Justin.  Tell  him  I  am  just  the 
same  Xeil  Bryant  that  I  always  \vas  when  he  knew  me  in  the 
physical  body.  When  the  curtain  drops  in  the  last  act  of  the 
Comedy  of  Life  we  will  all  be  there  to  meet  him.  Joe  will  soon 
come  over  to  our  side,  then  he  will  .be  young  Rip  again.  The 
old  boys  are  filing  in  rank.  Billy  Rice  sends  his  love  and  re- 
gards to  the  Little  One.  Dick  Hooley  smiles  a  smile  with  grati- 
fication in  thinking  it  won't  be  long  now. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  clown  my  communication.  This  is  a 
mighty  work  you  are  interested  in  and  you  must  keep  the  har- 
ness on  to  the  last.  Put  me  down  as  Xeil  Bryant,  well  known 
to  the  public  of  Xew  York  years  ago.  but  1  am  just  as  hale  and 
heartv  as  ever.  Good  dav. 


Charles  Leicester 

Chapter  XVI 


Tuesday,  May  10,  1901,  10  a.m. 

Justin  was  controlled  by  a  spirit  who  gave  the  following: 
I  am  Charles  Leicester,  alias  Charles  Colchester,  the  fraudulent 
medium.  I  was  asked  to  come  here  today  and  give  my  com- 
munication for  the  book. 

I  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England.  I  was  the  natural  son 
of  Lord  Leicester  by  the  lodge  keeper's  wife,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Emily  Cooper.  I  was  educated  at  a  village  school  for  four 
years,  then  I  was  sent  to  an  academy  until  I  was  fourteen  years 
old.  Then  I  was  brought  to  America  by  a  Mr.  Cameron.  When 
I  arrived  in  New  York  he  deposited  two  thousand  pounds  to  my 
account  and  left  me.  Before  he  left  he  told  me  that  he  would 
like  me  to  attend  one  of  the  academies  in  America  and  become 
educated.  I  went  for  awhile,  but  became  tired  of  it.  I  finally 
took  to  a  high  way  of  living  and  made  many  friends  which  only 
lasted  while  my  money  lasted.  Then  after  my  money  was  all 
gone  I  sought  for  work  and  found  it  in  a  pawn  shop  in  the  Bow- 
ery, kept  by  a  man  named  Simpson,  who  was  very  kind  to  me 
and  showed  me  a  great  deal  of  fatherly  affection.  I  betrayed 
that  fatherly  affection  by  stealing  from  him.  I  carried  that  steal- 
ing propensity  lor  two  years  in  his  establishment.  \Yhen  he 
finally  discovered  it  he  became  highly  incensed  that  the  trust  he 
put  in  me  was  betrayed.  I  was  arrested  and  sent  to  prison  for 
ten  years.  Through  my  good  behavior  and  proper  conduct  I 
was  pardoned  at  the  end  of  two  years. 

When  Mr.  Cameron  heard  of  my  condition  he  had  an  inter- 
view with  Mr.  Simpson  and  they  with  other  friends  drew  up  a 
petition  and  had  it  presented  to  the  Governor,  who  inquired  of 
the  head  authorities  of  the  prison  as  to  my  behavior  and  con- 
duct. Thev  told  the  Governor  I  had  become  religious  and  thev 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  235 

thought  I  was  a  moral  young  man.  The  Governor  then  par- 
doned me.  After  I  came  out  of  prison  I  drifted  here  and  there 
and  most  everywhere  in  New  York.  I  was  invited  by  a  party 
that  I  had  become  acquainted  with  to  attend  a  spiritual  seance 
which  was  given  at  the  Planters  Hotel.  There  for  the  first  time 
I  met  Charles  Foster,  the  Spiritual  medium. 

After  the  seance  was  over  Mr.  Foster  came  to  me  and  said, 
"Leicester,  you  are  mediumistic."  I  told  him  I  thought  so.  He 
made  an  engagement  with  me  to  come  to  his  rooms  next  mor- 
ning at  ten  o'clock,  which  I  did.  He  was  not  up  yet.  He  got  out 
of  bed  and  admitted  me  himself.  While  sitting  there  I  heard 
raps  all  over  the  room.  He  rang  the  bell  and  ordered  break- 
fast for  two,  which  I  enjoyed  very  much,  as  I  was  hungry.  After 
we  had  dined  he  rang  the  bell  for  a  servant  to  come  and  take 
away  the  dishes.  When  we  were  alone  he  looked  over  at  me 
across  the  table  and  said,  ''Leicester,  I  believe  you  can  develop 
into  a  medium."  In  reply  I  said  I  thought  so.  Then  he  pre- 
pared to  give  me  a  sitting.  He  produced  some  slips  of  paper 
and  asked  me  to  write  names  on  them,  which  I  did,  and  at  his 
request  rolled  them  into  pellets,  which  he  took  in  his  hand  and 
mixed  them  all  up,  then  placed  them  on  the  table  and  selected 
one  of  them  and  held  it  to  his  forehead  and  gave  me  the  name 
that  was  written  on  the  slip  of  paper,  which  it  proved  to  be  after 
it  was  opened  up.  None  of  those  names  that  I  wrote  on  the 
paper  were  connected  with  me.  Then  I  discovered  there  was 
mind  reading  in  it.  Then  I  said,  "Foster,  how  much  will  you 
charge  me  to  learn  this  business?"  Then  he  said,  ''How  much 
do  I  ask?  In  what  way  do  you  mean?"  I  said,  "How  much 
money  does  it  take  to  teach  me  the  graft  of  mind  reading?"  He 
laughed  and  said,  "We  shall  see  after  awhile.  Now,"  he  said, 
"we  will  see  to  the  genuine  part  of  this  spiritual  work — what  it 
has  in  store  for  you."  He  reached  his  hand  across  the  table 
and  took  mine  in  his.  Then  we  sat  quiet  for  a  little  while,  when 
he  became  entranced  and  gave  me  the  grandest  spiritual  com- 
munication I  ever  had  in  my  life,  which  lasted  about  one  hour, 
I  think.  When  he  came  from  out  of  the  trance  lie  said,  "Lei- 
cester, let  us  take  a  walk  up  Broadway.  I  must  get  some  air." 
We  parted  in  front  of  the  New  York  Hotel.  He  said,  "Come 
take  dinner  with  me  this  evening." 


236        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

We  parted,  he  going  to  his  rooms  and  I  to  Union  Square  to 
sit  on  one  of  the  benches  and  think  it  over.  I  must  have  sat 
there  as  much  as  two  hours.  An  impression  came  to  me,  "Go 
back  to  your  room  and  lie  down  and  take  a  nap,"  which  I  did. 
I  woke  up  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  got  up  and 
dressed  in  a  new  suit  and  prepared  myself  for  dinner.  When  I 
arrived  at  Mr.  Foster's  rooms  there  were  two  gentlemen  leav- 
ing who  had  just  had  a  sitting.  He  introduced  me  to  them  both. 
One  of  them  was  Peter  Cooper.  After  they  had  left  he  looked 
me  over  and  said,  "God,  Leicester,  you  are  a  handsome  fellow." 
After  that  we  became  great  friends  and  most  every  day  I  dined 
with  him  while  he  stayed  in  New  York  and  during  that  time  I 
learned  some  of  the  arts  of  his  mediumship — that  is,  the  farudu- 
lent  parts,  such  as  writing  on  his  arm  and  the  pellet  test. 

Let  me  tell  you  here  that  he  was  the  grandest  medium  that 
I  ever  met,  outside  of  these  tricks.  He  was  a  genuine  medium 
and  I  do  not  see  why  he  restored  to  trickery,  as  he  was  a  power- 
ful medium  in  manifestations  of  different  kinds.  I  said  to  him 
one  day,  "Charley,  why  do  you  resort  to  this  trickery  when  you 
are  such  a  fine  medium?"  He  said,  "Leicester,  my  boy,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  people  want  so  much  for  their  money.  I  first  give 
them  all  that  is  genuine  for  them ;  that  is,  what  the  spirits  have 
to  tell  them ;  after  that  I  resort  to  trickery  so  as  to  make  them 
think  I  am  a  wonderful  being." 

One  day  I  was  waiting  in  Mr.  Foster's  rooms.  There  came 
in  a  fine  looking  widow  woman  of  about  forty  years  and  had  a 
sitting  with  Mr.  Foster.  After  the  sitting  was  through  she  came 
from  the  private  room  into  the  public  sitting  room,  attended  by 
Mr.  Foster.  She  looked  at  me  and  smiled  and  said,  "I  think 
you,  too,  could  give  me  a  sitting.  Is  it  not  so?"  While  she  was 
speaking  a  thought  struck  me.  Now,  Leicester,  here  is  your 
chance.  I  said,  "Perhaps  I  could,  madam."  Foster  said,  "Go 
into  the  room,  Leicester,  and  see  what  you  can  see  or  do  for  her." 
While  Mr.  Foster  was  giving  her  the  sitting  I  was  practicing 
the  writing  on  my  arm.  I  wrote  the  name  Mary  with  the  pencil, 
which  was  a  red  one,  on  my  left  arm.  When  we  entered  the 
room  and  took  our  seats  opposite  each  other,  a  table  being  be- 
tween us,  I  professed  to  go  into  a  trance.  I  shoved  some  slips 
of  paper  towards  her  with  a  pencil,  saying,  "Write,"  which  she 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  237 

did.  She  wrote  several  names  on  the  slips.  While  she  was  do- 
ing so  I  stood  up  and  removed  my  coat  and  thrust  back  my  shirt 
sleeve  and  showed  her  the  name  on  my  arm — Mary.  She  gave 
a  scream  and  said,  "My  God — my  sister's  name.  It  is  of  her  I 
came  to  inquire — to  find  out  how  she  is  in  spirit  life."  I  caught 
at  those  words  like  a  drowning  man  to  a  raft  in  a  shipwreck.  I 
went  on  and  elaborated  on  her  condition  in  spirit  life,  which  was 
all  a  fraud,  but  it  did  its  work.  I  tell  you  this  to  show  you  how 
credulous  some  people  are.  Then  when  I  made  believe  to  come 
out  from  under  the  trance  she  grasped  my  hand  with  such  a 
warm  greeting  and  said,  ''You  are  a  superior  medium  to  Mr. 
Foster."  She  opened  her  purse  and  gave  me  a  ten  dollar  gold 
piece,  which  I  eagerly  grasped,  as  I  needed  it  badly  at  that  time. 
She  invited  me  to  come  and  dine  with  her  that  evening  and  said 
her  family  dined  at  seven  o'clock.  I  thanked  her  kindly  for  the 
invitation  and  said  I  would  do  so.  I  put  on  my  coat  and  ushered 
her  out  of  the  private  room  into  the  public  room  and  from  thence 
into  the  hall  and  thence  down  stairs  to  the  sidewalk  and  saw  her 
in  her  carriage. 

As  I  passed  through  the  public  sitting  room  I  saw  there  two 
ladies  and  a  gentleman  waiting  for  Mr.  Foster  to  give  them  a 
sitting.  When  I  came  back  into  the  public  sitting  room  I  sat 
down  and  said  to  myself,  "Leicester,  old  boy,  it's  not  so  hard 
to  be  a  medium,  after  all."  From  that  time  forth  my  farudulent 
life  commenced,  as  I  felt  my  good  looks  would  help  me  through. 
But  oh,  God,  it  was  a  terrible  step  in  life  to  trifle  with  people's 
feelings.  After  the  people  had  left,  Foster  came  over  to  me  and 
said,  "Leicester,  old  boy,  I  think  you  have  made  a  mash."  Said 
I,  "Charley,  you  ain't  in  it.  She  says  I  am  the  greatest  medium 
she  ever  met."  He  sat  down  on  the  sofa  and  laughed  until  his 
sides  shook  with  laughter.  Then  all  of  a  sudden  he  looked  at 
me  seriously.  A  voice  said.  "Don't  carry  this  joke  too  far;  if 
you  do  it  will  be  your  ruin,"  and  he  spoke  the  truth. 

That  evening  I  went  to  the  lady's  house  on  Lexington  Ave- 
nue to  dinner.  I  was  prepared.  I  had  my  arms  and  breast  cov- 
ered with  written  names.  Some  red.  some  blue,  written  with 
pencils  I  had  purchased  on  my  way  to  my  room,  for  I  had  no 
home,  only  that  which  I  paid  for  week  bv  week.  When  1  ar- 
rived at  the  ladv's  home  1  \va^  ushered  into  the  drawing  room. 


238        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  was  introduced  to  the  family  and  other  friends  who  were 
awaiting  my  coming  so  they  might  sit  down  to  din- 
ner. I  was  introduced  as  the  great  medium,  Mr.  Lei- 
cester. I  became  quite  an  attractive  friend  to  the  family  from 
that  evening  forth,  and  made  many  visits  and  dined  with  them 
often.  I  discovered  I  had  a  psychological  power,  which  I  put 
into  use.  I  made  that  widow  believe  that  she  should  take  a  trip 
to  England  for  her  health,  which  she  consented  to  do.  She 
wanted  to  take  her  oldest  child  with  her,  a  girl  twelve  years  of 
age,  but  I  told  her  it  would  not  be  wise  to  do  so.  I  told  her 
we  must  be  alone  as  I  wanted  to  develop  her  into  a  powerful 
medium  and  that  we  must  travel  on  the  Continent  by  ourselves 
without  any  hindrance.  When  I  told  her  she  would  make  a 
great  medium  she  became  quite  elated  and  said  she  would  do  as 
I  bid  her.  She  drew  from  the  bank  $10,000,  which  she  gave  into 
my  keeping.  Then  I  went  and  procured  the  tickets  and  we 
sailed  for  Europe. 

We  traveled  on  the  Continent  about  a  year  and  a  half  when 
she  became  a  mother  and  bore  me  a  son.  After  awhile  vision- 
ary ideas  came  to  me  and  I  thought  that  there  were  larger  fields 
for  me  than  living  with  her.  I  procured  her  a  ticket  and  gave 
her  one  thousand  dollars  and  told  her  the  spirits  said  she  must 
return  to  America  and  wait  my  coming  and  then  we  would  do 
a  great  work  together,  but  I  had  no  idea  of  returning  to  her.  I 
went  to  Paris  and  splurged  around  a  great  deal,  conveying  the 
idea  to  the  people  I  was  a  great  medium.  I  became  acquainted 
with  an  English  woman  while  in  Paris  and  found  out  that  she 
had  considerable  money.  I  got  around  her,  professing  to  be  a 
great  friend  of  hers  and  impressed  on  her  mind  that  she  should 
take  a  trip  through  England  into  Scotland  for  her  mediumship, 
which  she  did.  While  in  Scotland  she  became  pregnant.  We 
returned  to  England  and  she  gave  birth  to  a  son,  which  she 
adopted  out.  When  we  left  Scotland  she  brought  an  old  lady 
with  her  as  nurse.  After  the  child  was  born  this  old  lady  re- 
turned into  Scotland,  taking  the  baby  with  her.  The  mother  of 
the  child  was  a  high-born  lady  and  through  her  influence  I  was 
introduced  to  the  Queen  and  professed  to  give  her  a  sitting, 
claiming  to  be  controlled  by  her  husband,  which  she  discovered 
next  day  was  a  fraud.  Mr.  Brown,  a  natural  born  medium,  was 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  239 

controlled  by  the  Prince  Consort  Albert,  and  exposed  my  perfidy 
to  the  Queen  and  showed  me  up  as  an  arrant  fraud  of  the  worst 
kind.  She  sent  for  me  to  come  and  see  her  the  next  day  and  I 
went  away  up  into  the  fifteenth  heaven,  thinking  she  wanted  an- 
other sitting,  and  that  my  name  would  go  abroad  as  a  great  me- 
dium, but  lo,  and  behold !  -my  downfall  had  come.  When  I  was 
ushered  into  her  presence  she  gave  me  one  of  the  most  scornful 
looks  I  ever  saw  come  from  a  human  eye.  She  said  to  me,  "You 
degraded  villain  of  the  worst  kind,  to  think  you  dare  trifle 
with  people's  feelings  and  claim  to  produce  to  them  that  which 
is  the  'Holy  of  Holies,'  and  to  bring  back  the  memory  of  their 
loved  ones.  You  treacherous  coward  of  the  worst  kind,  I  give 
you  one  hour  to  leave  London  and  three  to  leave  Liverpool  when 
you  reach  there.  I  will  see  that  you  are  attended  until  you  leave 
England's  shore.  Now  leave  my  presence,  you  low,  ill-bred  cur, 
and  never  put  your  foot  on  England's  shore  again.  If  you  do  I 
shall  have  you  arrested,  tried  and  banished  to  prison  for  the  rest 
of  your  life."  She  waved  her  hand  and  said,  "Now  go,  you 
loathsome  wretch." 

I  was  conducted  from  her  presence  by  two  officers,  who 
never  left  me  until  I  was  put  on  board  a  steamer  for  America. 
That  was  the  downfall  that  spirit  predicted.  Before  I  left  I  was 
not  even  permitted  to  see  my  other  victim.  When  I  landed  in 
America  I  secured  rooms  and  blossomed  out  in  the  morning 
papers  as  the  great  medium  and  English  seer,  Colchester.  I  was 
besieged  by  many  callers  and  made  money. 

I  stayed  awhile  in  Xew  York  and  then  went  to  Boston.  I 
stayed  there  nine  months  and  gave  over  thirteen  hundred  sit- 
tings in  those  nine  months  at  five  dollars  apiece.  You  see,  I 
made  money  and  worked  on  the  credulity  of  the  people,  as  they 
were  very  credulous  and  looked  upon  me  as  a  great  medium. 

I  returned  to  Xew  York  for  awhile  and  took  in  many  shek- 
els. Then  I  went  to  Philadelphia  and  gave  sittings  almost  day 
and  night  for  three  weeks  duping  the  people.  I  left  with  well 
filled  pockets  for  Xew  York.  From  there  I  went  to  Chicago  and 
did  a  flourishing  business  for  eight  months. 

While  there  the  war  broke  out.  I  left  Chicago  for  Pitts- 
burg;  from  thence  to  Philadelphia  for  six  months.  Then  went 
to  Baltimore  for  two  months:  then  went  to  Washington.  While 


240         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

there  I  became  acquainted  with  several  prominent  men.  By  Mr. 
Conklin  I  was  introduced  to  President  Lincoln,  who  believed  in 
Spiritualism  and  the  returning  of  spirits.  After  a  while  I  left 
Washington  and  returned  to  New  York.  I  remained  in  New 
York  about  one  year,  and  while  there  a  death  occurred  at  the 
White  House.  I  returned  to  Washington  and  when  I  called  on 
Mr.  Conklin  he  refused  to  see  me.  Next  day  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Conklin  in  which  he  said  he  believed  me  to  be  a  fraud 
of  the  worst  kind,  and  that  if  I  did  not  leave  the  city  immediately 
he  would  see  that  I  did.  After  receiving  the  letter  I  called  on 
the  President  and  gave  him  a  sitting  and  professed  it  was  his 
loved  one  controlling.  After  we  had  finished  the  sitting  the 
President  presented  me  with  some  money  and  while  in  the  act 
of  giving  me  the  money  the  name  of  this  medium  (Justin)  was 
announced,  and  was  admitted.  When  he  entered  the  room  and 
saw  me  there  the  fire  flashed  from  his  eyes.  He  came  forward 
and  said,  "You  here,,  you  miserable  fraud."  He  shook  his  fist 
in  my  face,  which  made  the  President  smile.  I  looked  down 
upon  him  with  scorn  and  laughed,  as  I  thought  I  had  the  Presi- 
dent on  my  side.  The  medium  became  excited.  He  always  was 
a  nervous  creature.  He  went  up  and  grabbed  the  President's 
hand  and  in  an  excited  condition  he  said,  "I  tell  you,  Abe  Lin- 
coln, that  is  the  worst  fraud  that  ever  walked  in  shoes,  and  if 
he  don't  get  out  of  here,  I'll  kick  him  out."  The  President  put 
his  arm  around  the  little  medium  and  said,  ''Puss,  I  think  you 
are  mistaken."  The  medium  spoke  up  and  said,  "No,  I  can 
prove  it  to  you  that  I  am  right."  The  President  saw  that  the 
medium  was  excited  and  said,  "Mr.  Colchester,  you  had  better 
leave  and  come  another  time."  I  bade  the  President  good  mor- 
ning and  withdrew  from  the  apartment.  When  I  got  out  into 
the  open  air  I  said  to  myself,  "Leicester,  old  boy,  I  am  afraid 
your  goose  is  cooked  here." 

Some  time  during  that  day  this  medium  went  and  saw  a 
military  officer  by  the  name  of  Warren.  They  both  went  to 
the  White  House  and  were  received  by  the  President.  While 
there  Mr.  Warren  proved  to  the  President  that  I  was  a  fraud  of 
the  worst  kind.  Then  he  sent  a  party  to  have  me  arrested  but  I 
did  not  wait  for  that  time  to  come,  as  I  skipped  out  by  the  first 
train  that  was  leaving  Washington  for  Baltimore. 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  241 

Then  I  went  west  to  Cincinnati  and  from  Cincinnati  to  St. 
Louis,  and  there  I  met  that  fraudulent  medium  and  mounte- 
bank called  Jesse  Shepard,  who  claimed  that  he  had  no  musical 
education  and  that  he  was  controlled  by  the  inspirational  spirits 
and  that  they  played  through  his  fingers.  While  there  I  became 
acquainted  with  people  who  said  he  was  an  educated  musician, 
but  was  a  humbug  of  the  worst  kind.  When  he  gave  what  he 
called  his  musical  seances  he  had  the  room  so  dark  you  could 
not  see  anything.  I  sat  close  to  him  and  discovered  that  he  was 
a  ventriloquist  and  that  he  forced  his  voice  out  amongst  the  peo- 
ple and  they  believed  it  to  be  independent  spirit  voices,  which 
was  all  a  lie.  I  discovered  by  attending  several  of  his  seances 
that  he  played  the  same  pieces  all  the  time,  which  he  had  com- 
mitted to  memory  and  could  play  in  the  dark. 

During  my  stay  in  St.  Louis  I  became  acquainted  with  an- 
other so-professed  medium.  He  was  caught  in  his  fraudulent 
acts,  he  and  two  confederates,  while  out  in  the  room  posing  as 
spirit  friends  of  the  sitters.  He  was  grabbed  and  the  other  two 
escaped,  but  finally  they  permitted  him  to  go  free  if  he  would 
change  the  error  of  his- ways  and  leave  the  city.  He  left  the 
city,  but  did  not  change  his  ways. 

The  next  time  I  saw  him  was  in  Chicago.  He  was  posing 
there  also  as  a  materializing  medium  by  the  name  of  Williams, 
and  taking  in  the  dollars.  The  next  time  I  met  him  was  in  Buf- 
falo. He  bore  the  name  of  Conklin  there,  and  was  posing  as  a 
great  materializing  medium  and  slate  writer.  As  towards  slate 
writing  he  told  the  truth,  for  he  showed  me  how  he  wrote  the 
communications  on  the  slates. 

The  next  time  I  met  him  was  in  Trenton,  X.  J.  There  he 
was  taking  spirit  pictures,  which  were  frauds.  There  he  bore 
the  same  name,  which  no  doubt  was  the  truth.  He  said  when 
he  was  born  into  the  world  he  was  covered  with  a  veil.  The 
spirits  predicted  at  his  birth  he  would  become  a  great  medium. 
If  lying  made  a  medium,  I  think  he  was  one.  I  give  you  these 
few  illustrations  to  show-  you  how  people  are  defrauded  out  of 
their  money  and  humbugged  through  their  credulous  conditions. 

Harry  Gordon  was  the  only  genuine  materializing  medium 
I  ever  met  and  for  physical  manifestations  I  never  saw  his  equal. 
He  was  a  true  born  medium.  I  have  seen  the  greatest  physical 


242        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

manifestations  take  place  in  his  presence  that  I  ever  saw.  He 
had  four  phases  of  mediumship.  One  of  them  was  that  you 
place  a  sheet  of  paper  with  a  pencil  into  a  box  and  lock  it  up 
and  hold  the  key  yourself.  If  you  would  put  your  ear  to  the 
box,  in  about  five  minutes  you  would  hear  the  pencil  writing 
on  the  paper.  I  did  so  and  received  a  communication.  It  read 
thus,  "My  dear  son,  change  your  life  and  turn  from  the  errors 
of  your  ways,  as  they  are  sinful  in  God's  sight.  If  you  do  not,  a 
wretched  end  awaits  you.  Your  loving  mother  Emily."  I  was 
so  steeped  in  crime  it  did  not  phase  me  a  particle,  but  her  pre- 
diction came  true. 

Harry  Gordon  had  three  other  phases  of  mediumship.  Ma- 
terialization, Transformation  and  Impersonation.  He  was  the 
most  abused  medium  I  ever  met.  Why  was  it  thus?  Because 
he  was  persecuted  by  frauds  that  could  not  produce  the  genuine 
spiritual  manifestations  that  came  through  his  organization. 
Thank  God,  in  spirit  life  he  is  receiving  his  reward.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  that  came  to  me  and  said,  "Charley,  let  me  lead  you 
to  the  light  of  truth,"  which  he  did.  Bless  him.  That  is  why  I 
come  here  today  to  communicate.  There  were  nine  different  wo- 
men that  I  had  psychologized  and  they  bore  me  nine  different 
children.  So  you  see  I  was  a  degraded  wretch  in  many  ways. 
But  God  is  great  in  his  mercies  and  I  hope  to  become  a  better 
man  and  work  for  the  benefit  of  those  I  wronged  on  earth  that 
still  live  in  the  body.  Those  who  are  in  spirit  life  I  will  go  to 
and  on  my  bended  knees  ask  them  to  forgive  me  that  I  may 
atone  for  my  past  sins  in  the  sight  of  God  and  become  a  better 
man.  Yours  for  truth  and  the  grand  and  true  philosophy  of 
Spiritualism.  It  is  only  through  its  gates  that  you  will  find  im- 
mortality and  everlasting  life.  God  bless  you  and  those  that 
stand  up  for  the  truth  and  this  great  philosophy  that  leads  peo- 
ple into  the  new  birth.  Bless  this  little  medium  that  is  a  worker 
in  the  vineyard  for  truth's  sake.  May  he  live  many  days  yet 
to  herald  the  true  light  to  the  world.  I  say  this  in  sincere  friend- 
ship. Your  humble  friend,  Charles  Leicester. 

In  about  two  hours  Mr.  Leicester  returned  and  said.  "Mr. 
Hulburd,  do  not  think  me  too  selfish  for  coming  again  to  com- 
municate. If  you  were  pleading  at  the  gate  to  unburden  your 
conscience,  I  would  help  you,  friend,  with  all  my  heart.  I  know 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  243 

I  was  a  wicked  man  and  lived  a  wicked  life,  but  yet  there  is  one 
spark  of  generosity  left  in  me  and  that  is  to  work  for  those  I 
have  wronged  and  try  and  make  right  what  I  possibly  can  by 
atoning  for  my  sins.  When  I  ceased  to  control  before  I  saw  I 
was  quite  a  task  upon  his  strength,  so  I  withdrew  to  give  him 
and  you  a  chance  to  rest.  So  now  I  will  proceed  with  the  rest 
of  my  confession. 

While  in  Boston  I  became  acquainted  with  a  doctor  well 
known  to  the  people  there.  He  was  a  highly  and  finely  devel- 
oped man  with  a  fine  benevolent  organization,  an  honor  to  all 
fine  society.  During  the  time  that  my  friendship  lasted  with  this 
man  I  was  exposed  by  Emma  Hardinge  Brittan,  who  was  lec- 
turing in  Boston  at  that  time.  She  exposed  me  to  the  public, 
for  which  she  was  persecuted  by  many  of  the  Spiritualists.  They 
believed  me  to  be  a  great  medium  and  that  that  person  perse- 
cuted me  through  jealousy  on  account  of  my  great  mediumship, 
which  was  a  lie,  as  Emma  Hardinge  Brittan  was  a  highly  de- 
veloped moral  woman  and  her  character  stood  above  reproach. 
She  exposed  me  once  before  and  was  persecuted  for  it,  but  it 
made  no  difference  to  her.  She  worked  for  truth,  being  of  a 
high,  noble  character. 

The  day  after  she  exposed  me  I  called  on  this  doctor  and 
gave  him  a  pleading  story  that  I  was  persecuted  on  account  of 
my  mediumship.  He  said  that  was  a  shame,  and  "I  will  see  that 
you  are  vindicated  before  the  people,  as  I  will  address  the  peo- 
ple in  person  myself,  on  your  behalf."  I  found  I  had  worked 
upon  his  feelings  and  asked  him  to  please  give  me  a  check  for 
one  hundred  dollars  as  a  loan,  and  that  I  would  return  it  to  him 
in  a  couple  of  days.  He  went  to  his  private  secretary,  took  out 
his  check  book  and  filled  out  a  check  to  me  for  one  hundred 
dollars.  I  bade  him  good  morning  and  thanked  him  kindly  and 
said  God  would  bless  him  for  defending  honest  people.  I  im- 
mediately went  to  my  room  after  leaving  his  house  and  raised 
the  check  to  one  thousand  dollars.  I  presented  it  at  the  bank 
and  received  the  money.  I  packed  my  trunk,  called  a  hack  and 
was  taken  to  the  depot  and  shook  the  Boston  dust  from  my  feet. 
I  took  the  cars  for  \e\v  York.  After  that  1  took  the  cars  on  the 
Xew  York  Central  to  Buffalo  and  then  went  by  way  of  the  lakes 
to  Chicago,  for  I  knew  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  stay  in  l>oston. 


244 

When  the  doctor  found  out  the  rascality  that  I  had  com- 
mitted he  privately  offered  one  thousand  dollars  reward  for  my 
capture,  which  never  came  to  pass,  for  on  the  day  that  I  landed 
in  Chicago  I  went  to  a  married  woman's  home — to  whom  I  had 
been  making  visits  privately  when  her  husband  was  away- — when 
I  was  in  Chicago  before.  I  told  this  woman,  "Now  if  you  want 
me,  here  is  your  chance.  I  am  on  my  way  to  California."  She 
said,  "I  love  you,  and  I  will  go  with  you."  Then  I  said,  "Col- 
lect all  the  money  or  valuables  you  can  and  meet  me  in  an  hour 
or  two  if  you  can."  She  asked  me  where  and  I  named  a  certain 
restaurant.  She  met  me  and  we  took  dinner  together.  After 
we  had  finished  I  told  her  to  remain  there  and  I  would  go  to 
the  livery  stable  and  get  a  rig,  which  I  did,  and  came  back.  We 
both  got  into  it  and  I  drove  to  Joliet.  After  we  got  there  we 
went  to  a  hotel  to  stop  over  night.  I  gave  the  rig  into  the 
hands  of  the  landlord  to  put  up  in  his  stable.  I  had  learned  of 
an  early  train  that  came  through  there  before  daybreak.  We  got 
up  and  dressed,  then  we  left  the  hotel  quietly  without  paying 
our  bill.  We  were  not  discovered  by  anyone.  We  went  to  the 
depot  and  took  the  train  quietly  that  was  passing  through.  We 
went  to  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa.  We  left  there  and  went  back  to 
Keokuk,  Iowa,  thinking  that  I  might  make  some  money,  but  I 
was  taken  down  with  a  loathsome  sickness  that  was  disgusting 
to  moral  people.  I  died  a  horrible  death  and  that  was  the  end 
of  me  in  my  mortal  body. 

My  body  was  taken  from  the  hotel  and  buried  in  the  grave- 
yard. The  woman  took  what  money  was  left  and  the  valuables 
that  she  thought  were  worth  carrying  and  went  on  her  way  to 
California.  She  was  taken  down  with  the  loathsome  disease 
which  she  had  contracted  from  me  and  finally  she  was  taken 
to  the  Sisters'  Hospital,  where  she  passed  out  of  the  body.  She 
got  one  of  the  Sisters  to  promise  that  she  would  notify  her  hus- 
band of  her  death,  and  that  was  the  final  end  of  her  earth  body. 

I  make  this  confession,  Mr.  Hulburd,  to  show  to  the  people 
how  frauds  can  live  in  luxury  while  true  born,  genuine  mediums 
live  through  poverty  and  persecution  for  the  light  and  truth  they 
are  giving  to  the  world.  They  will  get  their  blessed  reward 
while  the  judgment  day  is  waiting  for  me  and  others  of  my  stripe. 
I  could  tell  you  now  of  many  that  are  posing  as  genuine  mediums 


CHARLES  LEICESTER  245 

when  they  are  nothing  but  frauds  of  the  worst  kind  and  bear 
names  puffed  up  by  spiritual  papers  because  they  advertise 
largely  in  them.  Thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communica- 
tions and  hope  my  confession  will  put  people  on  their  guard  and 
try  the  spirit  well  and  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  truthful, 
righteous  and  good.  I  bid  you  once  more  good  day.  Charles 
Leicester. 

Oh,  is  confession  an  aching  spell 

That  comes  deep  down  out  of  a  heart  like  a  well? 

As  at  a  banquet  in  revelry  he  fell, 

His  conscience  now  is  an  aching  hell, 

And  in  his  prime  by  lust  he  fell. 

These  are  the  tales  he  has  to  tell, 

That  woman  through  his  psychological  power  fell 

Which  is  a  greater  crime  than  a  sulphurous  hell, 

Why  did  God  not  stay  this  dreadful  spell? 

In  his  life  line  he  has  this  tale  to  tell, 

It  is  like  the  bursting  of  a  bomb  shell. 

Is  all  nature  then  a  perfect  sell 

That  they  in  the  world  other  lives  must  sell 

By  sending  them  down  to  a  conscious  hell? 

Oh,  ye  ministering  angels,  save  us  from  such  a  spell 

And  we  will  drag  the  waters  from  this  polluted  well, 

To  see  there  are  no  sunbeams  here  to  sell, 

Angels  of  grace  watch  us  well 

While  in  such  clutches  we  may  the  vampire  fell. 


Matilda    Herron 

Chapter  XVII 


Sunday,  May  12,  1901,  P.M. 

I  was  known  in  the  body  as  Matilda  Herron,  an  actress  of 
some  fame,  who  introduced  to  New  York  the  character  of 
Camille,  which  I  impersonated.  I  was  known  throughout  the 
country  in  that  character  in  which  I  was  celebrated.  I  met  this 
medium  in  Boston,  and  he  is  now  controlled  by  me.  I  saw 
him  play  the  character  of  "Aladdin,  or  the  Wonderful  Scamp." 

The  control  was  here  interrupted  by  a  spirit  impersonating 
an  Indian,  who  took  the  control  from  her.  A  more  fiendish  ex- 
pression I  never  saw  on  the  face  of  a  human  being.  It  was 
soon  driven  away  by  the  medium's  band  and  Miss  Herron  re- 
sumed. 

Miss  Davenport  asked  me  to  come  here  and  give  my  evi- 
dence when  I  was  attacked  by  that  vicious  spirit  who  repre- 
sented himself  to  be  an  Indian,  but  is  a  low,  degraded  Catholic 
priest.  While  in  the  earth  body  they  say  he  bore  the  name  of 
Father  Kelly — and  tried  to  break  up  my  communication.  I  never 
met  him  before,  either  in  the  body  or  in  spirit.  You  will  have 
to  watch  the  medium  very  closely  or  they  will  kill  him,  as  they 
do  not  wish  the  ancient  spirits  to  communicate  to  the  public. 
I  saw  this  medium  play  in  Boston  ;  also  in  Chicago  at  matinees. 
I  think  he  was  a  perfect  representation  of  Aladdin  and  Cinder- 
ella. His  Eaton  Boy  was  also  a  wonderful  performance,  as  he 
introduced  so  many  features  in  it  outside  of  others  that  played 
the  part.  He  was  a  natural  born  comedy  actor  or  actress  you 
might  say.  His  sex  made  him  both.  He  was  the  greatest  Alad- 
din I  ever  saw  on  the  stage.  I  enjoyed  the  performance  so  much 
that  I  asked  him  to  please  step  to  the  box,  which  he  did.  I  took 
a  diamond  ring  off  my  finger  and  placed  it  upon  his  thumb,  as 


MATILDA  HERRON  247 

his  other  fingers  were  too  small  to  hold  the  ring,  as  my  fingers 
were  large  and  rather  masculine.  He  did  not  thank  me  for  the 
present  as  I  saw  he  was  rather  confused.  Bishop  Buckley 
stepped  forward  and  thanked  me  for  him,  then  led  the  medium 
off  the  stage.  The  applause  became  deafening.  Bishop  Buck- 
ley led  the  medium  on  the  stage  again.  He  acknowledged  the 
greeting  and  threw  kisses  to  the  audience,  after  which  Bishop 
Buckley  led  him  to  the  box  where  I  sat  with  friends  and  he 
threw  kisses  to  me  and  the  friends  from  the  prettiest  shaped 
mouth  I  think  I  ever  saw.  All  of  a  sudden  he  jumped  on  Mr. 
Buckley's  back  and  hallooed,  "Go  long  2  :40  on  the  track."  He 
was  a  natural  burlesque  artist.  You  can  imagine  one  dressed 
in  beautiful  lavender  satin  trimmed  with  garnet  velvet  and 
dressed  perfectly  beautiful,  jumping  on  the  comedian's  back  and 
hallooing,  "We  are  off  for  the  London  Exposition."  He  was  a 
natural  comic  actor  or  actress.  That  is  why  he  is  called  the 
Queen  of  Burlesque  Comedy.  His  like  in  that  line  I  never  saw 
in  that  day. 

Here  Miss  Herron  was  again  interrupted  by  that  fiendish 
Catholic  spirit  who  suddenly  snatched  pillows  from  the  medium's 
head — the  medium  was  lying  on  a  couch — and  throwing  them. 
Doctor  Meyer,  who  wras  present,  immediately  grasped  the  brute 
by  the  wrists  and  looking  him  steadily  in  the  eye  commanded 
him  to  leave,  which  he  did  after  cursing  us  all  terribly  and  swear- 
ing he  would  kill  the  medium  if  he  allowed  those  communica- 
tions to  go  to  the  public.  \Yhat  can  a  religion  be  that  cannot 
bear  the  light  of  truth  and  can  only  exist  through  ignorance  of 
the  people? 

Miss  Herron  again  resumed.  Gentlemen.  I  am  sorry  to 
think  I  have  been  interrupted  in  my  communication  by  these  low 
Catholic  spirits  that  claim  they  will  kill  him  if  he  is  not  stopped 
giving  these  communications  to  the  public.  You  will  have  to 
watch  him  closely  or  they  will  harm  him  in  some  way — just  in 
what  way  I  cannot  tell.  I  am  glad  to  give  this  communication 
to  the  public  and  you  two  gentlemen  can  tell  what  a  genuine 
medium  has  to  pass  through.  \Yhile  living  in  the  body,  he  will 
have  to  be  watched  very  closely  in  the  future  or  they  will  kill 
him.  They  do  not  wish  these  ancient  communications  to  go  to 
the  public.  1  thank  you.  friends,  for  listening  to  me.  I  was  also 


248        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

a  medium  when  in  the  body,  but  not  in  this  way.  My  medium- 
ship  was  in  the  conception  of  character  upon  the  stage.  Clara 
Morris  who  came  after  me  was  also  a  wonderful  mediumistic 
being  wThich  her  conception  of  character  portrayed  to  the  public. 
I  thank  you,  friend,  for  taking  down  my  communication,  and 
was  sorry  to  be  interrupted  by  that  low  blackguard  who  once 
held  the  position  of  Catholic  priest.  They  are  the  worst  ene- 
mies of  Spiritualism  that  you  can  find  today.  An  atheist  or  a 
materialist  does  not  interfere  with  the  communications  while 
listening  to  them,  as  they  do  not  believe  in  spirit  return  until  it 
is  fully  demonstrated  to  them  that  spirits  can  return. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  taking  down  my  feeble  communication, 
and  I  also  thank  this  other  gentleman  (Doctor  Meyer)  for  tak- 
ing hold  of  the  medium  and  driving  out  that  low  lived  spirit  that 
I  might  continue  with  my  communication.  You  have  no  idea 
how  these  low  lived  Catholic  spirits  who  watch  genuine  mediums 
giving  communications  to  the  public  try  to  break  them  up  on 
every  side  when  the  medium's  band  is  not  there  in  full  number 
to  protect  them.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  having  patience 
to  listen  to  my  feeble  effort  to  communicate  to  the  public.  I 
would  not  want  to  be  a  public  medium  for  all  I  could  gain  by  it. 
I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  giving  me  strength  to  present  my 
feeble  communication  to  the  public.  Your  friend  in  truth. 
Matilda  Herron. 


Laura    Keene 

Chapter  XVIII 


Tuesday,  May  14,  1901. 

My  name  was  Laura  Keene.  I  was  known  to  the  public 
as  an  actress.  There  was  a  theatre  in  New  York  that  bore  my 
name,  called  Laura  Keene's  Theatre.  I  was  known  widely 
throughout  the  principal  cities  of  the  United  States.  I  trav- 
eled with  a  play  of  which  I  was  the  owner,  called  The  American 
Cousin.  It  had  a  long  run  at  my  treatre  on  Broadway.  Joseph 
Jefferson,  still  in  the  body  was  one  of  the  members  of  my  com- 
pany. He  left  my  company  and  started  on  his  first  starring  tour, 
in  which  he  was  successful.  I  was  English  born  and  came  from 
London,  England,  to  open  at  AYallack's  Theatre  on  Broadway 
and  Broome  streets.  I  opened  in  Camille.  Mr.  Loveday,  the 
English  actor,  sustained  the  part  of  Armand  in  the  same  play. 
Then  afterwards  there  was  a  theatre  built  for  me  in  my  name 
of  which  I  have  spoken  before.  I  afterwards  changed  its  name 
to  the  Olympic. 

\Yhat  brought  me  here  today  was  to  tell  you  that  in  my  time 
I  knew  the  medium.  He  bore  the  name  then  of  La  Petite 
Blanche  and  he  was  rented  out  to  the  different  theatres.  After- 
wards he  became  celebrated  with  the  Buckley  Serenaders  who 
held  forth  at  the  Chinese  Assembly  Rooms  on  Broadway.  He 
was  a  wonderful  impersonator  of  character  and  a  beautiful 
dancer.  I  think  he  made  his  first  appearance  at  the  old  National 
Theatre  on  Chatham  street.  I  believe  that  is  what  he  told  me. 
The  last  time  I  met  him  was  at  Oil  City,  Penn.  Then  I  was 
almost  blind  and  merely  recognized  him  alter  he  told  me  who 
he  was.  I  thought  I  recognized  his  voice  as  one  familiar  to  my 
ears,  but  just  then  I  could  not  locate  it  until  he  told  me  who 
he  was. 


250        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

At  that  time  I  was  growing  old  and  feeble  but  the  people 
did  not  want  to  give  me  up  but  finally  they  had  to  do  so,  as  I 
became  entirely  blind.  I  was  very  much  devoted  and  wedded 
to  my  profession,  as  I  loved  it  \vith  my  whole  soul  and  worked 
sometimes  very  hard  during  the  evening  to  please  and  amuse 
the  people,  which  I  have  never  regretted. 

I  came  here  today  to  verify  the  prediction  that  I  made  con- 
cerning this  medium,  that  is,  that  some  day  the  world  should 
hear  from  him  outside  of  his  stage  life.  I  knew  there  was  some- 
thing peculiar  about  him  which  I  did  not  understand  at  the  time 
but  afterwards  when  I  became  a  believer  in  spiritualism,  then 
I  discovered  wherein  I  was  at  fault  in  not  understanding  him, 
then  I  saw  and  understood  he  was  a  medium.  I  did  not  under- 
stand at  first  why  I  should  make  such  a  prediction  concerning 
him.  \\  hen  I  knew  and  understood  that  Spiritualism  was  a 
truth  then  I  saw  through  the  whole  condition  and  realized  why 
he  seemed  so  peculiar  to  the  people.  Xow  I  am  glad  to  know 
my  prediction  will  be  realized.  When  these  ancient  communi- 
cations go  forth  to  the  public  they  will  learn  reason  and  under- 
stand that  civilization  has  been  going  on  thousands  of  years.  I 
should  say  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  to  bring  the 
human  race  up  to  where  it  is  at  the  present  time.  His  organi- 
zation is  so  sensitive  it  would  take  but  very  little  to  send  the 
spirit  out  of  the  body.  Mr.  Forrest  who  preceded  me  says  he 
knows  and  understands  now  why  the  Little  One  had  such  an 
affectionate  disposition.  He  lived  between  two  worlds,  that  is, 
the  spirit  side  of  life  and  the  earth  side  of  life.  The  people  from 
both  sides  of  life  played  upon  his  organization.  That  is  why  he 
was  always  so  sensitive  to  the  changes  of  atmospheric  condi- 
tions, or  you  might  say  in  other  words,  the  climatic  conditions. 
They  could  play  upon  his  organs  as  they  would  a  flute  or  a  reed 
instrument. 

lie  was  very  fond  of  music  and  when  little,  as  1  knew  him. 
let  any  one  give  a  discord  upon  an  instrument  it  would  jar  upon 
his  ears  so  that  it  would  bring  tears  to  his  eves,  so  you  can  see 
he  was  very  sensitive.  How  little  such  an  individual  as  he  is — 
with  all  his  sensitive  nature — is  understood  by  the  community 
at  large.  Many  a  one  with  such  a  nature  has  committed  suicide 
•  •wing  to  the  harsh  treatment  they  have  received  from  the  world. 


LAURA  KEENE  251 

but  thank  God  he  has  been  spared  for  the  development  to  give 
these  communications  and  produce  a  spiritual  work  for  the  world 
that  will  teach  them  all  religion  is  man  made.  I  thank  you,  sir, 
for  taking  down  my  communication  and  leave  my  love  for  the 
Little  One  that  once  I  knew  as  La  Petite  Blanche,  but  in  after 
days  he  became  the  "Queen  of  Burlesque." 

I  found  a  program  in  a  dressing  room  where  he  had  pre- 
ceded me  with  a  company  of  burlesque  artists.  The  heading 
of  the  program  said,  "The  performance  will  be  led  by  the  great 
peerless  Queen  of  Comedy,  Justin,"  but  I  should  have  said  before 
that  the  program  read.  "A  grand  performance  tonight."  The 
bill  read  that  they  would  give  two  great  burlesques  that  even- 
ing. Frou  Frou  was  one  and  the  Florence  Family,  the  other. 
I  saw  a  name  in  both  casts,  Robert  Meldrum,  at  one  time  a  lead- 
ing man,  and  a  fine  actor  he  was.  He  had  great  conception  of 
character.  I  came  today  to  give  this  communication  to  add  my 
mite  to  the  lustre  of  the  book. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  and  I  bid  you  good  day.  Give  my  love  to 
the  medium.  One  time,  sir,  he  expressed  himself  thus:  "Laura, 
I  believe  my  life  is  a  failure."  Little  did  he  think  then  what  he 
would  give  to  the  public.  With  kindest  wishes  again,  your 
friend,  Laura  Keene. 


Richard  Bishop  Buckley 

Chapter  XIX 


Monday,  May  20,  1901. 

My  name  was  Richard  Bishop  Buckley.  I  had  another 
brother  named  George  Swain  Buckley,  another  one  named  Fred- 
erick E.  Buckley.  We  were  the  proprietors  of  a  company  called 
"The  Buckley  Serenaders,"  who  played  in  many  countries  out- 
side of  America.  Our  home  was  in  Quincy,  outside  of  Boston. 
We  were  all  married  men  finally  before  we  passed  out  of  the 
body.  I  was  the  oldest  of  the  three  brothers.  I  was  light  com- 
plexioned  like  my  mother  while  the  other  two  were  dark  com- 
plexioned  like  their  father.  My  father  was  well  known  as  a  mu- 
sician in  London.  He  was  the  leader  of  the  orchestra  of  the 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  I  guess  as  many  as  fifteen  years. 

Our  mother  came  of  what  they  call  in  England  the  aristoc- 
racy. She  was  a  lady  of  rank.  I  have  heard  her  tell  of  how  she 
fell  in  love  with  father.  She  said  she  thought  our  father  was  the 
handsomest  man  she  ever  saw  and  married  against  her  people's 
wishes.  George  Swain  and  myself  were  born  in  England.  Fred- 
erick E.  was  born  in  Boston  and  when  he  grew  up  to  manhood 
he  was  called  the  great  American  violinist.  "When  we  were  per- 
forming in  London,  England,  the  English  papers  called  him  the 
American  Ole  Bull. 

Why  I  come  here  today  is  to  speak  of  the  relations  of  this 
medium's  connection  with  our  family.  He  played  with  us  for 
over  nine  years,  that  is,  off  and  on.  He  would  leave  sometimes 
and  go  with  another  company  for  awhile  and  then  return  again. 
We  all  loved  him  dearly  and  made  it  as  pleasant  for  him  as  we 
possibly  could.  He  was  one  of  the  brightest  gems  of  our  com- 
pany. I  should  have  said  the  brightest.  He  was  admired  by 
the  whole  company  for  his  genial  nature.  He  played  many 
characters  with  us,  but  mother  thinks  his  Cinderella  was  the 
gem  of  them  all,  while  his  Aladdin  was  a  general  favorite  with 
the  patrons  of  our  house.  Father  used  to  say  he  was  our  little 
mascot.  His  delineation  of  character  was  something  wonderful 
and  his  dancing  was  superb.  His  dancing  and  pirouetting  on 


RICHARD  BISHOP  BUCKLEY  253 

his  toes  was  the  wonder  of  the  people.  The  newspapers  called 
him  the  comet  of  that  time. 

We  always  knew  he  was  a  medium  but  to  allow  his  medium- 
ship  to  progress  we  discovered  it  took  his  strength  and  he  could 
not  be  as  brilliant  on  the  stage  and  a  medium  too.  We  thought 
with  our  idea  of  thinking  he  had  better  stick  to  his  profession — 
there  was  more  money  in  it  for  him,  and  us  too.  He  was  a 
favorite  wherever  we  went,  and  especially  at  our  Opera  House 
in  Boston.  He  was  constantly  receiving  presents  from  one 
source  or  another,  but  it  never  seemed  to  make  him  vain,  as  he 
was  wedded  to  his  profession.  For  a  person  of  his  height  I  think 
he  had  the  smallest  hand  and  foot  of  any  person  I  ever  saw. 
His  petite  form  was  something  beautiful  to  look  upon.  Mr.  Rus- 
sell, the  composer,  wrote  a  poem  upon  his  form  and  looks.  He 
said  in  the  poem  that  Venus  must  have  visited  his  mother  in 
her  sleep  to  leave  such  a  perfect  form  at  that.  Why  1  speak  of 
this  was  that  his  form  was  the  admiration  of  the  people.  His 
form  and  his  wonderful  talent  made  him  a  great  favorite. 

One  evening  in  one  of  our  boxes  at  our  opera  house  sat 
Edwin  Booth  and  wife,  Billy  Florence  and  wife,  and  Madeline 
Hendrick.  The  ladies  wished  to  make  his  acquaintance.  Billy 
Florence  wrote  on  the  back  of  his  card  a  request  and  sent  it  to 
my  dressing  room,  asking  me  if  I  would  not  oblige  them  by 
bringing  Little  Justin  to  the  box,  as  the  ladies  wished  to  speak 
with  him.  I  did  as  requested.  1  took  Little  Justin  by  the  hand 
and  opened  the  door  that  led  from  the  stage  into  the  box.  I 
presented  him  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  box  and  after 
some  conversation  Edwin  Booth  asked  permission  to  kiss  him, 
which  Justin  granted.  The  rest  of  the  company  in  the  box  said 
he  must  do  likewise  with  them.  After  he  kissed  them  all  we 
bade  them  good  night  and  withdrew  from  the  box. 

After  the  performance  was  over  I  received  a  card  of  invita- 
tion with  a  request  that  I  come  and  bring  Little  Justin  to  sup- 
per, which  I  did.  After  dining  and  social  conversation  was  going 
on  Edwin  Booth  drew  me  one  side  and  asked  me,  "Is  that  a 
made  up  form,  or  is  it  perfect?"  T  told  him  it  was  a  natural 
form  made  by  nature  or  God,  if  he  wished  to  call  it  so.  "Well," 
he  said,  "that  is  the  most  perfect  form  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  :  it 
seems  so  superb  and  delicate  that  it  should  not  be  touched  by 


254         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

human  hands."  I  told  him  we  took  great  care  of  the  Little  One. 
He  was  the  pet  of  all  the  company  and  any  of  them  would  go 
quite  a  distance  out  of  their  way  to  please  him,  but  he  never 
asked  any  of  them  to  perform  any  duty  that  was  out  of  the  way. 
His  whole  nature  was  generosity  itself.  He  was  born  with  a 
very  high  temper  but  mother  taught  him  how  to  subdue  it  and 
live  it  down.  After  he  had  lived  with  us  three  or  four  years 
there  was  a  big  change  in  that  temper  for  he  was  always  willing 
to  learn  and  do  anything  that  mother  would  ask  him,  as  he  had 
great  confidence  in  her  judgment. 

Our  mother  was  a  remarkable  woman,  if  her  son  does  say 
it,  and  I  don't  think  I  ever  met  her  equal  in  good  judgment.  Her 
advice  to  her  sons  was  of  the  highest  wisdom,  which  she  was 
remarkable  for.  Her  husband  and  her  sons  would  lay  down  their 
lives  for  her  any  time,  as  she  was  deserving  of  it.  She  really 
was  the  manager  of  the  company,  and  we  followed  her  advice. 
That  is  what  brought  us  our  great  success.  She  was  above  the 
common  average  of  women  in  intellect  and  the  expansion  of  her 
mind  was  great,  as  all  her  boys  lived  to  learn  and  admire  her 
great  wisdom,  which  they  saw  she  displayed  in  everything. 
Little  Justin  always  seemed  a  child  to  her  and  never  grew  in 
age  like  other  people  as  he  was  a  good  deal  like  a  kitten — always 
full  of  play;  like  James  Arnold  used  to  say,  those  bright  eyes 
can't  keep  still,  they  are  so  full  of  mischief. 

In  time  he  met  a  friend  that  he  admired  who  bore  the  name 
of  Warren  and  that  Mr.  Warren  loved  him  with  his  whole  life, 
which  in  days  to  come  gave  full  proof  of  his  fruition.  I  never 
saw  such  love  between  two  individuals  as  there  was  between 
them.  It  seemed  as  if  Justin  dissolved  into  Mr.  Warren's  na- 
ture and  was  absorbed  entirely  by  the  older  individual.  It  was 
a  blending  and  melting  of  two  lives  into  one.  It  was  something 
to  look  at  and  be  proud  of  to  think  that  you  were  permitted  to 
look  at  such  harmony  in  human  lives.  It  seemed  as  in  every- 
thing they  were  one  with  God. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  taking  down  my  communication.  All 
send  their  love  to  the  "Little  One";  although  his  hair  is  white 
with  age  he  is  still  to  us  little  "Puss,"  as  we  called  him,  and  hope 
that  he  will  live  long  enough  so  that  many  other  spirits  may 
communicate  through  his  organism.  Good  day,  sir. 


George  Henry  Clifford 

Chapter  XX 


Monday,  May  20,  1901. 

My  name  is  George  Henry  Clifford;  I  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  the  Clifford  family  of  Maryland.  I  spent  most  of  my  boyhood 
days  between  Baltimore  and  Washington.  Old  Sarah  Clifford, 
as  she  was  called,  was  a  sister  of  my  father's.  She  kept  a  young 
ladies'  school  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Banks,  a  widow  and  a  sister 
of  Sarah  Clifford,  was  housekeeper  in  the  home  and  with  her 
and  Aunt  Sarah  I  visited  a  great  deal  in  Washington.  I  bore 
the  same  initials  as  my  grandfather,  and  this  pleased  Aunt 
Sarah.  She,  being  a  maiden  lady,  thought  there  was  no  one  like 
the  Cliffords  of  Maryland — but  what  brought  me  here  today  is 
in  connection  with  this  medium. 

Hut  just  let  me  tell  you — I  fell  in  love  with  the  sweetest 
little  girl  I  think  I  ever  saw;  that  was  while  I  was  attending 
college.  She  was  on  a  visit  to  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Major  of  Haiti- 
more.  Her  name  was  Olive  Gray,  a  daughter  of  James  Gray 
of  Washington.  I  was  very  anxious  to  have  her  become  engaged 
to  me,  which  she  refused  at  that  time.  She  said  she  had  histri- 
onic art  in  her  nature  and  believed  she  was  born  for  the  stage, 
but  that  was  looked  upon  in  those  days  as  a  dreadful  thing  for 
a  young  girl  to  enter  the  theatrical  profession.  Hut  she  waived 
all  my  entreaties  and  people's  ideas  to  one  side.  She  entered 
the  theatrical  profession  at  the  old  llolliday  Street  Theatre  in 
Baltimore.  I  found  out  afterwards  she  was  assisted  by  her  aunt, 
Mrs.  Major,  who  had  been  an  actress  in  Kngland  before  she 
came  to  America.  Mr.  Major  had  married  her  in  London.  Eng- 
land, while  she  was  playing  an  engagement  at  the  Drurv  Lane 
Theatre.  That  was  some  twentv-tive  years  before  my  Olive 
was  horn.  1  could  not  give  my  love  up  and  1  waived  aside  all 
my  people's  threats  to  disinherit  me  and  shut  my  ears  to  all  the 


256         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

entreaties  of  my  relations  and  friends  not  to  marry  her.  She 
was  engaged  by  Edwin  Forrest  to  come  to  Philadelphia  for  four 
weeks  to  play  in  Virginius,  the  Roman  Father  and  other  trage- 
dies. I  followed  her  to  Philadelphia  against  the  wishes  of  my 
parents.  I  hung  around  the  theatre  until  she  came  out  from 
rehearsal.  She  came  leaning  on  the  arm  of  Edwin  Forrest  and 
my  feelings  then  I  cannot  describe,  but  when  she  discovered 
me  standing  there,  she  rushed  towards  me  and  said,  "Oh,  are  you 
here?  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you."  She  turned  around  and  said  to 
Mr.  Forrest,  "Allow  me  to  introduce  you  to  one  of  my  dear  Bal- 
timore friends."  Mr.  Forrest  smiled  and  said,  "I  am  glad  you 
have  some  friends  left.  I  will  bid  you  good  morning,  as  I  now 
can  leave  you  in  good  hands."  He  left  and  went  towards  his  ho- 
tel. I  spoke  up  and  said,  "Olive,  do  you  love  that  man?"  She 
laughed  a  merry  laugh  and  said,  "You  stupid  boy,  we  look  upon 
him  as  a  father,  which  he  is- — a  father  to  the  company."  Then  we 
walked  along  towards  her  home  where  she  was  rooming,  which 
was  on  Filbert  street,  above  Ninth.  She  invited  me  into  the 
parlor  and  also  to  sit  down  and  make  myself  at  home  for  a  few 
minutes  while  she  would  go  to  her  room  and  remove  her  heavy 
wraps,  which  she  did,  and  returned  in  about  five  minutes.  Dur- 
ing that  time  I  made  my  mind  up  what  I  should  do.  As  she 
entered  the  parlor  I  went  forward  to  meet  her  and  took  her 
hands  in  mine.  Then  I  said,  "Olive,  do  you  love  me  enough  to 
become  my  wife?"  She  said,  "I  do,  but  only  on  one  condition, 
and  that  is,  that  I  can  remain  on  the  stage  until  I  am  tired  of 
it."  Then  I  said,  "Let  it  be  so.  AYe  will  be  married  right  now." 
She  was  always  a  girl  who  had  a  matter  of  fact  way  with  her. 
She  said,  "The  third  door  above  here  lives  a  minister.  You  go 
and  get  the  license  and  I  will  go  to  my  room  and  get  my  hat." 
When  I  returned  with  the  license  she  was  sitting  in  the  parlor 
waiting  for  me.  As  I  was  mounting  the  steps  she  came  out  of 
the  door  and  said,  "I  am  ready."  AYe  went  to  the  minister's 
house  and  were  married  inside  of  ten  minutes.  I  remember  he 
told  me  he  was  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
we  attended  the  next  Sunday.  As  I  remember  it,  the  church 
was  located  on  10th  Street,  south  of  Market.  I  give  you  these 
facts  to  let  you  know  how  my  wife  and  I  came  together. 

Now  the  principal  part  of  the  communication  that  I  came 


GEORGE  HENRY  CLIFFORD 

here  today  to  give  you,  is  that  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
Warren  and  I  became  partners  in  a  theatrical  company.  It  was 
called  the  Broadway  Burlesque  Comedy  Company,  of  which  this 
medium  was  the  star.  We  started  from  New  York  through  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  and  most  all  of  Ohio  and  as  far  as 
Chicago  and  through  a  good  deal  of  Illinois,  and  then  to  St. 
Louis.  Then  down  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  New  Orleans.  Then 
back  up  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Ohio  river.  We  went  to 
the  city  of  Cincinnati  and  played  four  months,  which  was  a  long 
engagement  for  a  traveling  company.  We  went  from  Cincin- 
nati to  Washington,  thence  to  Baltimore  and  on  to  Wilmington 
and  Philadelphia,  and  closed  our  traveling  tour  in  Trenton,  New 
Jersey,  disbanding  the  large  company  and  selecting  four  of  those 
that  we  thought  were  the  best  for  our  concert  company. 

We  started  out  with  a  troupe  of  eight  members,  counting 
Mr.  Warren  and  myself.  We  took  in  all  the  principal  watering 
resorts  which  took  nine  weeks  from  the  time  we  commenced. 
We  did  well,  made  money,  finally  disbanded  in  New  York,  all 
parties  well  pleased  and  happy  to  think  we  had  made  that  trip. 
After  we  had  paid  off  the  company,  Mr.  Warren  and  I  divided 
over  $30,000  between  us,  which,  of  course,  made  us  feel  happy. 
I  had  been  in  the  field  as  a  theatrical  manager  for  over  ten  years, 
but  the  happiest  trip  we  ever  made  and  enjoyed  our  natures  to 
the  full  extent  of  happiness,  was  the  tour  that  we  took  when  Mr. 
Warren'  and  I  were  partners  and  the  little  medium  was  the  star 
of  the  company.  He  was  called  the  Queen  of  Burlesque  Comedy. 

I  came  here  today  to  tell  you  that  I  was  well  acquainted 
with  him  and  Mr.  Warren  when  I  lived  in  the  body. 

I  thank  you.  sir,  for  taking  down  my  communication  and 
will  bid  you  good  day. 


Richard  M.  Hooley 

Chapter  XXI 


Monday  evening,  May  20,  1901. 

My  name  is  Richard  M.  Hooley.  I  was  known  to  the  pub- 
lic as  a  theatrical  manager  and  also  a  minstrel  manager.  I  had 
two  theatres  in  Chicago  under  my  control  and  one  in  Brooklyn, 
X.  Y.  Most  all  the  celebrated  stars  played  for  me  both  in  my 
comedy  theatre  and  minstrel  company.  I  had  many  that  I  was 
very  proud  of  in  both  conditions,  but  I  made  more  money  out 
of  the  minstrel  business  than  I  ever  did  out  of  the  theatrical 
business. 

\Yhat  brings  me  here  today  is  in  reference  to  this  medium. 
He  played  for  me  a  number  of  years  both  in  Xew  York  and 
Chicago  in  connection  with  John  Hart,  the  celebrated  comedian. 
He  played  in  many  farces  and  comedies  during  that  engagement. 
I  will  mention  two  comedies — "That  Husband  of  Mint,"  and 
"All  for  Love,"  in  which  he  did  a  grand  piece  of  high  comedy 
acting— as  fine  as  I  ever  saw  on  the  American  stage.'  They 
played  another  comedy  called  "Three  P.M.,"  in  which  John  Hart 
and  the  medium  stood  unrivaled.  AYe  gave  on  one  Tuesday  a 
special  matinee  in  order  that  the  performers  from  the  other  thea- 
tres might  come  and  see  them  in  this  comedy. 

I  was  well  known  as  a  theatrical  manager  throughout  the 
United  States  and  at  one  time  took  a  large  company  to  Europe. 
Our  financial  condition  was  one  of  success.  I  brought  the  com- 
pany back  to  America  again  and  disbanded  them.  1  lived  to  be 
over  eighty  years  old.  I  passed  out  of  my  body  in  Chicago.  I 
underwent  a  surgical  operation  of  having  a  tumor  cut  out  of  my 
liver.  I  lived  but  a  very  short  time  afterwards,  as  this  operation 
or  the  tumor  that  collected  on  my  liver  was  the  cause  of  my 
death.  J  bear  no  ill  will  to  the  physicians,  as  they  did  the  best 
they  could,  and  as  far  as  their  method  of  practice  would  permit 


RICHARD  M.  HOOLEY  259 

them  to  go.  If  I  were  living  in  the  body  today  I  would  employ 
a  magnetic  healer,  one  that  could  manipulate  the  body  and  scat- 
ter the  disease.  From  that,  no  doubt,  I  would  receive  a  great 
benefit. 

My  family  and  friends  believed,  or  thought  that  I  believed, 
in  the  Catholic  religion.  I  believed  in  no  religion  nor  in  any 
hereafter.  I  went  with  my  family  sometimes  to  church  merely 
for  the  formality  of  being  seen  there.  Today  I  realize  and  under- 
stand I  am  a  spirit  living  in  a  spiritual  condition.  That  is  why 
I  am  here  communicating  through  Justin's  organization. 

When  I  lived  in  the  body  I  was  very  much  attracted  to  the 
medium  because  I  thought  he  was  so  peculiar  and  liked  to  joke 
him  to  hear  him  laugh,  little  understanding  the  power  that  was 
behind  the  throne. 

Old  Dick  Hooley,  as  the  boys  used  to  call  me,  is  just  as 
much  alive  today  as  ever.  I  hope  that  some  of  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  under  my  management  will  see  this  communication, 
then  they  will  understand  that  Richard  Hooley  is  alive  today. 

Thanking  you,  sir,  for  taking  down  my  communication,  I 
am  your  friend  and  the  friend  of  all  humanity.  I  bid  you  good 
day. 


Adah  Isaacs  Menken 

Chapter   XXII 


Friday,  May  24,  1901. 

Justin  requested  Mr.  Hulburd  to  summon  Doctor  Meyer,  as 
some  one  wished  to  communicate  and  he  required  more  strength. 

He  was  soon  controlled  by  a  spirit  who  said,  My  name  is 
Adah  Isaacs  Menken.  I  was  known  to  the  theatrical  profession 
as  the  great  theatrical  Mazeppa.  I  was  born  in  Xew  Orleans; 
my  father  was  a  physician.  Both  my  father  and  mother  were  of 
French  descent.  I  was  what  you  call  a  Creole,  and  in  other  words 
a  French  Jewess.  My  first  husband's  name  was  Isaacs.  He  was 
a  violin  player  in  the  Xew  Orleans  theatre,  the  leader  of  the 
orchestra. 

My  second  husband's  name  was  Menken — of  the  celebrated 
Menken  brothers  of  the  south.  He  had  two  brothers  in  the  dry 
goods  business  in  Memphis,  Tenn.  I  married  the  wealthiest  one 
of  the  family  in  Xew  Orleans.  They  were  a  Jewish  family,  also. 

My  third  husband  was  John  C.  Heenan,  the  pugilist.  I  bore 
him  one  son,  which  passed  to  spirit  life.  My  next  husband  was 
Mr.  Xewell,  of  the  Sunday  Mercury. 

I  played  between  Europe  and  America.  I  passed  out  of  my 
body  in  Paris,  France.  They  laid  my  body  to  rest  in  Pere  la 
Chaise. 

While  in  Europe  I  was  visited  by  many  of  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe  to  see  what  I  looked  like  in  private  life.  I  was 
looked  upon  while  in  the  body  as  a  beautiful  woman.  My  face, 
form  and  whole  expression  people  raved  over,  especially  news- 
paper men.  In  the  fashionable  salons  of  Paris  I  was  a  leader  of 
fashion.  From  the  royalty  of  Europe  I  received  many  valuable 
presents,  especially  from  Louis  of  France.  I  became  a  model 
for  painters  and  sculptors.  I  was  admired  in  private  as  well  as 
in  public,  which  made  me  vain  and  imperious  and  which  finally 
became  my  ruin. 


ADAH  ISAACS  MENKEN  261 

I  wrote  for  the  newspapers  and  was  somewhat  of  a  poet.  I 
composed  a  poem  on  this  medium  in  French,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  one  of  the  Parisian  magazines.  His  dancing  and  play- 
ing to  me  was  something  superb.  He  traveled  in  my  company 
under  the  name  of  the  Dashing  Blanchard  throughout  the  United 
States.  I  tried  to  prevail  upon  him  to  accompany  me  to  Europe 
but  which  I  did  not  accomplish.  His  acting  in  Olinsky  would 
have  been  a  novelty  in  Europe.  He  became  acquainted  with  a 
Mr.  Warren  which  prevented  him  from  accompanying  me  to 
Europe.  This  Mr.  Warren  was  an  officer  in  the  United  States 
army.  I  felt  very  regretful  to  think  he  did  not  accompany  me, 
as  I  had  a  wish  to  introduce  him  to  the  French  public.  I  finally 
sailed  for  Europe  and  in  less  than  a  year  I  died  in  Paris. 

What  brings  me  here  today  is  this.  I  knew  he  was  a  med- 
ium for  he  showed  it  in  many  ways.  I  also  was  a  medium  from 
childhood,  which  created  between  us  a  great  friendship,  but  Mr. 
Warren  came  between  us  and  caused  a  separation  by  having  the 
medium  go  to  live  with  him.  You  understand  the  medium  is  of 
both  sexes,  that  is,  male  and  female,  the  female  predominating. 
That  is  what  accounts  for  the  beautiful  form.  He  had  the  most 
beautiful  form  I  ever  saw  on  a  human  being.  When  he  was  in 
my  company  he  was  addressed  as  she,  living  in  female  attire. 
I  think  her  head  of  hair  was  something  beautiful  to  look  at.  It 
was  the  admiration  of  the  public.  When  I  used  to  see  Mr.  War- 
ren wrap  that  hair  around  his  neck  I  could  have  killed  him.  Her 
hair  measured  four  feet  three  inches  long.  Being  of  short  stat- 
ure, when  she  would  bend  her  head  back  her  hair  touched  the 
floor.  Her  height  was  four  and  a  half  feet,  but  I  see  since  I  have 
entered  spirit  life  she  has  grown  some  inches.  Mr.  Warren  de- 
clared he  could  not  live  without  her  and  brought  his  strong 
psychological  power  to  bear  and  psychologized  her  so  that  she 
became  his  companion  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  and  I  have 
talked  it  all  over  in  spirit  life,  and  made  the  discovery  that  it  was 
required  for  her  development. 

Now  I  shall  address  the  medium  as  he.  or  I  should  say,  speak 
of  him  as  he.  Through  Mr.  Warren's  influence,  which  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  her,  she  dressed  in  male  attire  to  suit  his 
fancy;  permitted  her  beautiful  hair  to  be  cut  off  so  that  Mr.  War- 
ren could  take  the  bov  wherever  he  went,  into  all  kinds  of  com- 


262 

pany,  which  was  a  source  of  great  happiness  to  him — Mr.  War- 
ren— for  he  could  not  bear  the  boy  hardly  out  of  his  sight.  To 
Mr.  Warren  he  was  a  God  and  was  idolized  by  him.  After  he 
adopted  the  boys'  clothes  he  always  called  Mr.  Warren  "Papa." 
Mr.  Warren  spoke  of  him  as  his  son  or  boy,  so  that  the  general 
public  looked  upon  him  as  the  legitimate  son  of  Mr.  Warren. 
Mr.  Warren  says  now  in  spirit  life  he  thoroughly  understands 
why  it  came  to  pass  that  he  should  be  selected  for  the  protector 
of  this  Little  One  for  over  twenty  years.  He  says  there  was 
only  one  fault  that  he  could  see  in  the  medium  and  that  was 
his  high  temper,  and  he,  Warren,  got  to  understand  that  condi- 
tion through  which  he  could  control  this  temper.  He  says  out- 
side of  this  temper  he  had  the  most  loving  disposition  of  any 
being  he  ever  knew  in  his  life. 

Now  I  must  make  a  confession,  since  I  have  admitted  that 
I  knew  the  sex  of  the  medium,  which  stands  under  the  name  of 
hermaphrodite.  The  female  part  predominated  in  everything, 
but  by  the  drilling  and  exercise  that  Mr.  Wrarren  put  the  Little 
One  through  he  became  in  time  quite  masculine,  both  in  ap- 
pearance and  in  his  actions,  and  it  made  Mr.  Warren  very  happy 
to  look  upon  the  improvement.  Through  it  he  said  he  gained  a 
boy  and  a  wife,  known  to  the  world  as  the  Queen  of  Burlesque 
Comedy.  My  confession  is  this — I  was  desperately  in  love  with 
Mr.  Warren  and  had  a  desire  to  make  him  my  husband.  For 
that  purpose  I  got  a  divorce  from  my  husband,  but  alas,  it  was 
too  late.  He  had  fallen  in  love  with  the  medium  and  said  he 
could  not  live  without  him. 

One  evening  in  my  dressing  room  in  the  theatre  he  said  to 
me,  "If  the  Little  One  refuses  to  become  my  wife  I  will  kill  my- 
self, for  she  is  a  little  treasure  that  I  want  to  own  and  puts  one 
in  mind  of  a  peach  with  the  bloom  on  it."  I  could  have  killed 
him  right  there  and  then,  for  it  went  to  my  heart  like  a  dagger 
of  cold  steel.  I  offered  him  jewels,  money,  everything  that  I 
thought  would  induce  him  to  marry  me.  He  took  both  my  hands 
and  said,  "Adah,  it  cannot  be.  I  must  have  her  or  I  cannot  live 
in  this  body."  He  left  me  then  and  that  is  the  last  I  know.  I 
had  swooned  away  and  was  found  lying  on  the  floor  with  the 
blood  running  out  of  my  mouth.  The  shock  was  too  much  for 
my  sensitive  nature.  When  I  came  to  and  opened  my  eyes  she 


ADAH  ISAACS  MENKEN  263 

was  bending  over  me  and  had  me  in  her  arms  smoothing  my 
forehead  and  calling  me  dear  names  and  telling  she  would  give 
up  everything  in  the  world  if  I  would  only  live  and  be  happy. 
She  said  she  would  even  give  up  this  man,  for  she  did  not  love 
him — but  soon  learned  to  love  him  afterwards — but  it  was  too 
late.  The  shock  had  done  its  work.  I  returned  to  Europe  and 
died  in  less  than  one  year.  My  maid  one  day  came  into  the 
room  and  as  she  thought  I  was  lying  on  the  bed  asleep,  which  I 
usually  did  in  the  afternoon  to  rest  for  the  evening  performance, 
she  withdrew  from  the  apartment  and  came  back  in  one  hour. 
She  came  to  my  bedside  to  wake  me  to  get  a  cup  of  tea  which 
I  usually  took  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  when  she 
tried  to  arouse  me  she  found  my  spirit  had  flown  and  my  body 
was  what  the  world  calls  dead. 

I  came  today  to  give  this  communication  for  your  book  that 
the  world  may  see  that  at  one  time  there  was  a  great  friendship 
between  us  and  which  friendship  has  been  renewed  in  spirit  life 
between  our  conditions,  one  still  in  the  body,  the  other  in  spirit 
existence.  I  now  realize  and  understand  it  all  had  to  be.  It  was 
in  our  life  line  which  you  must  all  realize  some  day,  as  Mr.  War- 
ren and  I  have  realized  in  spirit  life,  that  nothing  goes  unre- 
warded, for  every  act  brings  its  own  judgment  and  all  days  are 
judgment  days,  so  our  conscience  tells  us. 

Yours  for  the  truth  of  the  great  philosophy,  Adah  Isaacs 
Menken,  once  the  pride  of  the  people,  now  a  spirit  struggling  to 
reach  the  high  development  of  spirit  power  which  the  great 
father  and  mother  God  can  only  give  to  their  children  in  life 
that  they  may  learn  to  know  the  power  of  reason  and  wisdom 
and  that  all  the  ministrations  from  this  God  power  are  bene- 
dictions to  her  children.  Amen. 

I  thank  you,  sir.  for  taking  this  communication  and  you  will 
get  vour  reward  as  I  will  iret  mine. 


David  Wambold 

Chapter  XXIII 


Friday,  May  24,  1901. 

My  name  was  David  Wambold.  I  was  born  and  brought 
up  in  Newark,  X.  J.  I  had  something  of  a  tenor  voice  which 
made  me  famous  in  the  minstrel  business.  I  sang  for  several 
of  the  prominent  minstrel  companies  in  my  time  and  finally  be- 
came one  of  the  managers  of  the  San  Francisco  Minstrels  of 
Xew  York.  The  company  originated  and  organized  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, California.  There  were  Billy  Burch,  Charley  Backus,  David 
Wambold  and  Mr.  Bernard.  One  of  the  members  of  the  com- 
pany was  Mr.  Charles  Shattuck,  the  old  bass  singer  of  San 
Francisco.  He  came  with  us  to  New  York  and  was  located  on 
Broadway  opposite  Niblo's  Garden,  where  once  the  famous  Buck- 
ley Serenaders  held  forth ;  in  fact,  I  believe  the  theatre  was 
built  for  them  before  they  took  their  troupe  to  England,  travel- 
ing through  the  provincial  towns  and  finishing  up  in  London. 

I  was  acquainted  with  most  all  the  prominent  stars  of  the 
minstrel  profession.  I  went  under  Mr.  McGuire's  management 
to  San  Francisco  in  1861  and  played  in  San  Francisco  for  a 
number  of  years.  During  those  years  Tom  McGuire  would  get 
up  a  company  and  send  us  out  through  the  state.  One  time  we 
went  as  far  as  Salt  Lake,  L'tah,  which  was  a  terrible  rough 
journey,  as  that  was  before  the  days  of  railroads.  We  returned 
to  San  Francisco  and  I  tell  you  I  was  glad  to  get  back  into  some 
kind  of  civilization.  I  was  a  man  that  liked  things  pretty  nice 
around  me,  especially  the  room  that  I  slept  in. 

We  found  very  good  accommodations  in  Salt  Lake,  but  on 
the  road  going  there  and  returning  to  San  Francisco  the  accom- 
modations were  something  terrible,  and  at  one  time  I  thought 
I  should  lose  my  voice,  as  I  had  caught  a  bad  cold  which  settled 


DAVID  WAMBOLD  265 

on  my  lungs  and  took  me  pretty  nearly  three  months  to  have 
removed  by  constant  care  and  watching  to  keep  out  of  draughts. 
San  Francisco  is  one  of  the  worst  climates  in  the  world  in  which 
to  get  cured  of  a  cough.  I  was  glad  when  we  organized  and 
was  once  more  on  board  the  steamer  for  New  York  City.  I  re- 
turned by  way  of  the  railroad  in  1872  to  San  Francisco  to  play 
an  engagement  of  two  months  for  Mr.  McGuire  at  the  Bush 
Street  Theatre.  There  is  where  I  became  pretty  well  acquainted 
with  this  medium.  He  sustained  the  leading  female  parts  in 
the  comedy  that  the  company  played.  I  became  pretty  well  ac- 
quainted with  him  during  the  time  as  we  frequently  met  in  the 
dining  room  of  the  Grand  Hotel,  where  we  had  table  board. 
The  medium  had  rooms — what  you  call  sunny  rooms  in  San 
Francisco — upon  the  hill.  He  had  to  live  there  on  account  of 
his  health.  You  must  understand  sunny  rooms  are  very  desira- 
ble in  San  Francisco.  They  were  in  great  demand  and  brought 
a  high  price  in  those  days.  During  our  engagement  I  tried  to 
make  a  contract  with  him  to  come  to  Xew  York  and  introduce 
his  comedies  there  at  our  house.  I  also  brought  Mr.  Joseph 
Xorah,  who  had  played  with  Justin  in  comedy  and  farces  for  the 
last  three  years,  to  intercede  for  me.  but  he  informed  us  it  could 
not  be  as  he  was  under  contract  for  the  coming  year.  I  had 
written  to  Mr.  Backus  and  Mr.  Burch  that  I  thought  it  would 
be  a  good  idea  to  introduce  these  comedies  and  farces  in  our 
company,  as  they  were  very  attractive  in  San  Francisco.  The 
minstrel  business  was  commencing  to  go  down  and  did  not  draw 
the  houses  it  had  in  the  past,  and  this  was  quite  a  unique  feature 
in  the  minstrel  business,  as  it  gave  the  public  a  variety  of  per- 
formances. 

He  was  called  at  the  time  the  Siddons  of  the  minstrel  stage, 
as  he  introduced  burlesque,  tragedy  and  comedy  in  these  pieces, 
but  I  failed,  as  I  said  before,  to  secure  him.  \Yhen  his  engage- 
ment in  San  Francisco  was  up  and  he  returned  with  the  com- 
pany to  Philadelphia,  I  had  a  berth  in  the  same  palace  car  and 
we  had  many  long  conversations  about  the  profession  and  things 
outside  of  the  profession.  \Ye  were  in  hopes  to  secure  him  after 
the  engagement  was  up  at  the  Arch  Street  Opera  House,  which 
lasted  for  over  two  years  more,  but  instead  of  us  securing  him 
Mr.  Haverly  secured  him  to  open  in  Chicago  at  the  Randolph 


266 

Street  Theatre.  He  also  played  an  engagement  with  Mr.  Hav- 
erly's  company  in  San  Francisco  at  the  different  theatres.  When 
he  returned  to  Chicago  we  understood  he  was  going  to  rest  for 
a  few  weeks.  We  had  sent  three  telegrams  to  Yineland,  N.  J., 
to  his  summer  home,  and  received  no  answer.  Then  we  sent  a 
man  on  to  Chicago  to  engage  him,  but  could  not  find  him.  In 
the  meantime,  Mr.  Hooley,  of  Hooley's  Comedy  Theatre,  had 
his  company  on  the  lookout  for  him  and  one  day  George  Knight, 
the  star,  discovered  him  and  Mr.  F.  D.  C.  Meyer,  who  is  present 
at  the  giving  of  this  communication,  getting  out  of  a  street  car. 
George  Knight  took  them  over  to  Hooley's  Theatre.  There  they 
met  Mr.  Hooley,  who  was  very  glad  to  meet  him,  and  right  then 
and  there  engaged  the  medium  to  play  for  him  and  through  that 
condition  he  took  him  that  time.  Our  agent  returned  to  New 
York  and  said  he  was  too  late,  as  Mr.  Hooley  had  engaged  him 
for  the  coming  season.  I  did  not  see  him  again  until  the  fall 
of  1878,  when  I  asked  him  when  he  would  give  us  a  chance. 
He  said  in  reply.  "If  I  keep  in  good  health  I  will  open  with  you, 
Mr.  Wambold.  next  season."  We  shook  hands  upon  it  and  went 
to  the  hotel  and  had  dinner  together.  We  parted  and  he  prom- 
ised to  go  riding  with  me  the  coming  Sunday,  but  he  sent  me  a 
note  by  a  musician  that  he  was  not  strong  enough  and  would 
have  to  remain  in  bed  that  day.  I  called  upon  him  and  found 
him  ill  and  in  bed  and  visited  all  the  afternoon  with  him,  talk- 
ing about  when  I  first  saw  him  with  the  Buckley  Serenaders 
years  ago.  I  thought  then  he  would  pass  out  of  the  body  long 
before  I  did,  but  I  was  mistaken.  The  malady  had  already  at- 
tacked my  lungs  which  finally  took  me  out  of  the  body.  That 
afternoon  was  the  last  time  I  ever  saw  him  while  I  lived  in  the 
body,  as  in  a  few  weeks  afterward  he  went  to  his  home  in  Xew 
Jersey.  I  took  a  trip  to  Florida,  but  it  did  me  no  good :  my 
lungs  grew  weaker  and  weaker  all  the  time.  I  finally  passed 
out  of  the  body,  little  thinking  I  should  ever  come  here  to  con- 
trol his  organization. 

I  think  you  live  in  a  beautiful  spot  here  in  the  mountains. 
I  am  glad  to  know  that  he  has  lived  to  such  a  good  old  age  to 
fulfill  this  work  that  the  spirits  said  was  predicted  through  him 
years  ago.  The  people  in  the  profession  used  to  call  him  the 
witch,  but  1  used  to  laugh  at  that,  not  believing  any  predictions 


DAVID  WAMBOLD  267 

nor  in  any  hereafter.  I  believed  in  no  religion  and  thought  that 
immortality  finished  at  the  grave.  I  was  like  Bob  Ingersoll — 
"one  world  at  a  time."  I  thought  that  if  such  a  thing  could  be 
that  there  was  a  life  hereafter  I  had  just  as  good  a  chance  as 
any  of  the  rest  of  them. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  taking  down  my  communication  and 
now  feel  that  I  am  as  thoroughly  alive  as  I  ever  was.  Yours  on 
deck,  as  the  bovs  used  to  call  me,  David  Wambold. 


Charles    Foster 

Chapter  XXIV 


Sunday,  May  19,  1901. 

My  name  is  Charles  Foster.  I  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
Salem,  Mass.  I  was  born  a  medium  like  the  one  I  now  control. 
I  was  called  the  greatest  test  medium  living,  but  I  think  there 
were  others  equally  as  good  as  myself.  I  think  mediums  who 
make  predictions  of  the  future,  and  those  predictions  are  realized 
like  many  that  have  come  to  pass  that  have  been  predicted 
through  this  medium  and  others,  are  really  as  great  as  I  was — 
and  in  some  cases  I  think,  greater.  I  think  the  prediction  of 
the  Ashtabula  destruction  that  was  given  two  hours  before  the 
destruction  took  place  and  came  out  early  in  the  newspapers  in 
the  morning  was  a  great  prediction,  for  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  know  at  his  rooms  in  Chicago. 

Another  one  also  was  great,  or  what  the  world  would  look 
upon  as  wonderful,  and  that  was  the  burning  up  of  the  steam- 
ships and  the  steamship  wharf  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the  Hud- 
son as  predicted  by  his  guide,  the  little  Indian  girl  Rosa.  Many 
other  predictions  have  already  been  fulfilled  and  these  have 
been  realized  by  those  who  were  present  when  the  predictions 
were  made. 

Xow  as  to  myself  I  would  say  that  I  have  traveled  the 
United  States  pretty  thoroughly  and  held  forth  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal cities  and  many  of  the  large  towns  of  the  United  States. 
I  made  an  abundance  of  money  by  giving  sittings  but  spent  it 
about  as  fast  as  I  earned  it.  I  squandered  a  great  deal  of  money 
that  I  might  have  helped  others  with.  A  great  deal  of  the 
spending  of  this  money  was  unnecessary.  I  spent  it  to  gratify 
Charles  Foster's  luxurious  desires,  when  I  might  have  benefited 
many  others  with  the  money.  I  spent  wantonly;  I  was  a  person 


CHARLES  FOSTER  269 

who  drank  a  great  deal  of  liquor  and  treated  others  to  liquor  and 
cigars.  When  they  begged  to  be  excused  I  would  force  it  upon 
them  and  not  to  offend  me  they  would  accept  -it.  I  was  gross 
and  licentious,  which  my  friends  knew  and  understood.  They 
overlooked  it  all  on  account  of  my  mediumship.  I  was  a  born 
and  genuine  medium.  I  gave  genuine  tests  to  thousands  of 
people.  Many  of  my  genuine  tests  were  noted  down  by  people 
who  received  a  benefit  through  them. 

My  weaker  vanity  educated  me  to  perform  tricks  so  that 
I  might  convey  to  the  people  that  I  was  a  wonderful  person  and 
mystified  them  thereby.  All  the  names  that  were  found  written 
on  my  arm  was  a  fraud.  They  were  always  written  by  some 
companion  that  traveled  with  me,  who  held  in  their  possession 
different  colored  pencils  that  were  used  by  that  companion  who 
assisted  me.  They  were  held  by  that  individual  in  case  any  of 
the  people  should  search  through  my  trunk  or  valise,  which  was 
done  several  times  by  people  in  my  absence,  thinking  they  could 
discover  the  pencils  by  which  the  names  were  written.  Not 
finding  any  pencils,  they  thought  they  were  genuine  spirit's 
names  written  on  my  arms.  Many  of  the  Spiritualists  were  so 
prejudiced  that  they  wrote  articles  for  the  newspapers  in  which 
they  described  they  saw  the  names  come  upon  my  arm,  which 
of  course  was  all  false.  But  imagination  will  carry  peoples' 
minds  a  great  way  into  the  land  of  mystery  and  superstition, 
which  has  been  the  case  with  many  that  have  studied  our  beau- 
tiful philosophy.  Let  me  remark  here  that  spirit  return  is  as 
true  and  genuine  as  the  sun  that  shines  or  nature  that  gives 
vital  breath  to  the  human  soul. 

In  my  pellet  test  business  I  brought  mind  reading  into 
play.  As  the  individual  wrote  names  on  the  slips  of  paper  I 
read  the  names  in  his  or  her  mind  while  they  were  writing  them 
and  by  that  means  I  would  pick  up  a  pellet  and  open  it  up.  mak- 
ing believe  that  I  had  read  the  name  on  the  paper,  which  in 
reality  I  had  read  in  their  minds.  It  was  by  that  means  that  I 
gave  my  wonderful  pellet  test  condition,  as  I  called  them.  Xo 
one  seemed  to  question  my  honesty  or  ask  to  see  the  slip  of 
paper  from  which  I  had  given  the  name.  In  most  all  cases  I 
gave  the  names  I  saw  in  their  minds,  not  the  ones  I  saw  written 
on  the  paper.  They  claimed  it  was  a  wonderful  manifestation. 


270        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Others  that  sat  with  me  and  got  manifestations  said  it  was  ut- 
terly impossible  for  me  to  read  any  such  thing  in  their  minds, 
as  they  were  not 'thinking  about  any  such  condition  at  that  time. 
Wherein  they  made  their  great  mistake  was  that  those  condi- 
tions were  in  their  minds  at  the  time  and  also  previous  to  that 
time,  or  I  could  not  describe  them.  There  is  one  great  mistake 
Spiritualists  have  to  rectify  yet.  That  is  that  the  lobe  cells  of 
the  brain  are  like  the  negative  plates  of  photography — all  im- 
pressions are  printed  there.  That  is,  things  that  occurred  pre- 
vious to  their  visit  to  me  and  also  that  they  were  thinking  of 
during  their  visit  in  my  presence.  I  was  a  wonderful  mind 
reader  and  clairvoyant  and  when  I  put  my  power  into  action 
the  brains  of  men  and  women  were  laid  bare  to  my  conditions. 
That  part  of  it  consisted  of  my  genuine  mediumship,  while  the 
pellet  test  part  was  a  fraud — but  I  had  to  bring  that  into  prac- 
tice, as  you  might  call  it,  so  as  to  make  the  individuals  believe 
that  I  got  all  from  the  names  that  were  written  on  the  slip  of 
paper.  I  had  such  power  that  when  men  and  women  approached 
me  in  conversation  I  could  tell  just  what  they  were  thinking  of 
at  the  time.  When  men  and  women  lied  to  me  and  thought 
they  were  deceiving  me,  there  is  where  they  made  one  of  the 
greatest  mistakes  of  their  lives. 

I  was  feted  by  the  high  and  low  through  the  walks  of  life. 
I  revelled  in  luxury  by  mystifying  the  people.  I  became  an  in- 
dividual addicted  to  drinking  largely,  which  in  time  made  my 
life  a  wreck.  I  became  an  imbecile  or  what  you  would  call  a 
weak  minded  individual  and  lost  all  my  manhood  and  morality 
and  became  a  feeble  minded  wreck. 

For  $300  I  taught  Mr.  Colchester,  the  supposed  medium, 
the  writing  of  names  on  his  arms  and  body  and  also  the  pellet 
test,  of  which  he  was  largely  deficient,  as  having  no  power  to 
read  the  mind.  I  told  him  to  study  up  ventriloquism  and  pro- 
duce it  upon  the  people  and  call  it  independent  voices,  such  as 
that  fraud,  Jesse  Shephard  and  others  of  his  ilk,  perpetrated 
upon  the  people.  There  are  many  today  calling  themselves  me- 
diums and  that  independent  spirit  voices  take  place  in  their 
presence,  which  are  nothing  but  crude  conditions  of  ventrilo- 
quism. 

I  think  the  most  credulous  people  in  the  world  are  many  of 


CHARLES  FOSTER  271 

the  people  investigating  Spiritualism,  as  they  have  such  vision- 
ary ideas  that  they  will  accept  all  kinds  of  bosh  as  coming  from 
the  spirits.  Xo\v  understand  me,  these  believers  in  our  beau- 
tiful philosophy  of  spiritualism  that  have  shrewd  minds  of  high 
elevation  and  while  investigating  these  conditions  they  bring  all 
their  shrewd  natures  into  play  so  that  they  cannot  be  deceived 
by  impostors.  I  must  admit  that  I  have  been  detected  by  the 
smart,  shrewd  and  intellectual  people  wherein  they  found  me 
committing  fraud  and  begged  me  to  give  up  my  evil  ways,  know- 
ing that  I  was  also  a  genuine  medium  and  that  spirits  could 
give  through  my  organization  fine  spirit  communications,  but 
the  trouble  was,  most  of  the  people  that  came  to  interview  me 
or  the  spirits  that  came  through  my  organization,  wanted  so 
much  for  their  money.  They  were  not  satisfied  with  that  which 
was  genuine.  So  I  had  to  throw  a  glamour  over  their  condition 
and  produce  my  mystified  tricks  to  make  them  believe  the  spirit 
world  was  largely  interested  in  their  condition,  which  seemed 
to  be  very  satisfactory  to  them  and  they  went  off  rejoicing, 
thinking  that  the  spirits  gave  them  the  choicest  things  they  had 
in  their  keeping  for  them  only.  You  see  and  understand  there 
are  tricks  in  all  trades  and  these  were  tricks  in  mine,  for  vision- 
ary, credulous  people. 

I  give  this  communication  that  it  may  go  forth  to  the  pub- 
lic and  teach  them  that  Spiritualism  is  the  only  true,  safe  way 
to  immortality  or  the  life  beyond  the  grave.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  death — that  word  should  be  wiped  out  of  the  English 
language.  It  is  only  laying  aside  the  old  mantle  and  taking  up 
the  new  mantle  to  clothe  the  spiritual  birth.  Life  has  no  end. 
no  beginning,  all  is  reason  located  in  the  soul  and  through  the 
power  of  wisdom  and  progression  it  brings  to  bear  a  light  that 
illuminates  the  soul  through  all  conditions.  Xo  weeping,  no 
gnashing  of  teeth,  but  some  day  an  everlasting  laughing  of  mirth. 

Yours  for  truth  and  the  union  of  our  great  philosophy:  that 
it  may  kiss  the  violet  breath  of  Heaven  and  bring  the  angels 
that  are  not  far  and  that  the}'  may  drop  intelligent  bars  and  per- 
mit Cod's  intellectual  car  that  is  freighted  with  men  and  women, 
for  they  say  that  they  must  live  within  and  have  an  outgrowth 
that  knows  no  sin.  Charles  Foster. 

Given  in  presence  of  K.  \Y.  Hulburd  and  F.  D.  C.  Meyer. 


Alice  Gary 

Chapter   XXV 


Good  morning,  friend.  I  understand  this  is  the  office  where 
we  are  to  give  our  communication  and  leave  it  on  deposit  for 
publication. 

My  sister  Phoebe  and  myself  came  in  company  with  that 
beautiful  spirit,  Frances  Willard,  one  of  the  most  emphatic 
workers  in  the  interest  of  humanity  that  I  ever  met.  Her  glori- 
ous spirit  surroundings  are  the  work  and  unfoldment  of  her 
deeds  of  charity  while  a  sojourner  in  the  physical  body.  The 
great  power  she  lent  in  the  aid  of  the  temperance  question  and 
work  tell  here.  Also  the  private  dispensing  of  charity  in  her 
quiet  way  has  wrought  beautiful  emblems  that  now  spiritual 
eyes  can  feast  upon  here.  I  was  in  conversation  with  Mr.  War- 
ren when  this  beautiful  spirit  was  attracted  to  our  atmosphere. 
We  were  speaking  of  Little  Justin,  your  medium.  Mr.  Warren 
was  speaking  to  me  in  a  friendly  way,  asking  me  if  I  would 
oblige  him  for  old  acquaintance  sake  to  come  here  and  give  a 
communication  in  regard  to  Little  Justin,  when  Miss  Willard 
spoke  and  said,  "'With  pleasure,  Miss  Alice,  I  will  lead  you  to 
his  home.''  I  then  said,  "Let  us  summon  sister  Phoebe  and  we 
will  follow  you  with  pleasure,  thanking  you  for  your  kindness 
in  becoming  our  guide  to  lead  us  to  the  home  of  the  Little  One 
whom  we  all  admired  so  much  when  living  in  a  physical  body  and 
now  we  love  through  our  spiritual  attraction."  So  you  see  sir, 
I  am  here.  We  have  entered  your  home  without  asking  per- 
mission, for  which  I  hope  you  will  forgive  us,  on  this  occasion, 
at  least.  The  spirit  that  preceded  me  today  was  one  who  was 
born  in  the  south  ;  lived  his  life  in  the  physical  body  also  in  the 
south.  Mr.  \Yarren  feels  sorry  that  you  did  not  listen  to  his 
storv  and  take  notes  of  it.  Mr.  Warren  has  a  desire  that  this 


JUSTIN   HULBURD 


ALICE  GARY  273 

spirit  should  tell  his  story  in  his  own  way.  When  living  in  a 
physical  body  and  during  the  Civil  War,  or  as  you  people  call 
it,  in  our  late  rebellion,  he  was  a  captain  in  the  southern  army ; 
his  whole  soul  and  make-up  was  for  the  south.  He  was  a  sensi- 
tive character,  high  strung,  and  lived  on  a  rather  gross  plane. 
Morality  and  elevation  were  wanting  in  his  make-up.  He  was 
the  captain  who  captured  Little  Justin,  took  him  to  General 
Lee's  headquarters  and  there  declared  him  to  be  a  northern  spy 
of  the  most  malignant  type.  When  brought  into  the  presence 
of  the  General  the  Little  One's  coquetry  and  fascinations  com- 
menced to  play  their  part,  of  which  you  have  communication 
that  tells  you  of  the  result,  and  how  it  turned  out  with  Little 
Justin  and  the  General.  Many  of  those  present  in  person,  offi- 
cers in  command  of  General  Lee,  or  I  should  say  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Lee,  when  they  looked  upon  the  pictures  before 
them  they  commenced  to  think  Little  Justin  had  fascinated,  or 
in  other  words  bewitched,  the  General.  Ah,  little  did  they  un- 
derstand the  power  that  was  behind  it  all. 

Xow,  in  relation  to  this  man's  condition.  He  passed  into 
spirit  life  with  all  that  bitter  hatred  in  his  nature  towards  the 
north  ;  he  hated  northern  people  and  everything  that  came  from 
the  north.  When  he  took  the  Little  Medium  into  custody  and 
forced  him  into  the  presence  of  General  Lee,  little  did  he  under- 
stand that  was  just  what  the  spirits  wanted,  to  carry  on  their 
work.  This  man,  or  captain,  as  he  was  called,  lived  on  a  low, 
licentious  plane  and  if  it  had  been  in  his  power  he  would  have 
carried  out  conditions  entirely  different,  which  would  have  be- 
come a  disgrace  to  Little  Justin.  You  see  we  cannot  always  do 
in  life  as  we  would  wish  to  have  things  done,  but  we  must  do 
the  best  we  can  under  our  condition  and  location  that  we  are 
placed  in.  There  are  many  times  in  life  that  we  have  a  desire 
to  foster  on  people  and  even  force  it  at  the  risk  of  our  life.  The 
wheel  of  fortune  reverses  and  throws  us  off  our  track  and  we 
become  minus  of  the  power  through  which  we  would  produce 
a  crime  upon  our  fellow  being.  When  this  man  came  en  rapport 
with  you  and  the  other  gentleman  today  he  had  a  desire  to  tell 
his  tale  in  his  own  way.  It  was  also  the  desire  of  .Mr.  Warren 
that  he  should  do  so.  The  other  gentleman  and  you  gave  little 
attention  to  his  communication.  Me  felt  that  he  was  insulted 


274         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and  in  time  he  was  released  from  the  medium's  forces,  whereby 
you  lose  a  valuable  communication  for  your  book.  Mr.  Warren 
plead  with  him  that  he  might  try  it  at  some  future  time,  but  he 
said,  "Xo,  I  will  not;  I  have  been  insulted  by  low  northern  trash 
and  it  would  become  a  degradation  to  my  manhood,  also  my 
southern  chivalry."  So  you  see,  friend,  he  has  not  progressed 
enough  to  live  down  that  condition.  Permit  me,  gracious  sir, 
to  give  you  a  word  of  advice.  When  such  spirits  come  into 
your  home  and  control  your  medium,  humor  them  all  you  pos- 
sibly can.  The  ignorance  through  which  they  manifest  must 
show  to  you  the  low  condition  through  which  they  exist  in  spirit 
life.  These  bombastic  individuals  have  an  awakening  sometime, 
out  of  which  they  must  arise  and  learn  to  live  under  the  law 
of  reason. 

So  in  future,  friend,  be  guided  by  what  little  I  have  said. 
Cover  such  an  individual  with  your  mantle  of  charity  and  after 
you  have  noted  down  the  desirable  parts  of  their  communication 
then  try  and  teach  them  the  law  of  morality  and  wisdom.  Such 
spirits  can  be  taught  often  by  coming  en  rapport  with  mediums 
and  circles.  There  are  too  many  of  the  mediums  in  the  spiritual 
field  that  have  a  great  desire  to  be  controlled  only  by  elevated 
spirits,  forgetting  all  the  while  that  these  elevated  spirits  are 
beyond  any  instruction  that  they  could  receive  from  mortals  in 
a  circle.  It  is  the  lowly  and  humble  ones  that  they  should  try 
to  reach,  that  they  might  come  in  communication  with  those 
spirits  living  on  the  lower  planes  of  gravitation  and  spirituality. 
If  they  would  give  forth  all  the  love  and  charity  that  is  in  their 
mediumistic  natures  they  would  help  to  build  up  the  condition 
of  those  unfortunate  spirits  that  live  on  a  low  plane  in  spirit  life. 
Do  not  drive  them  away  from  your  home  and  surroundings,  but 
rather  cultivate  their  society  and  there  you  may  find  a  possibility 
to  lead  them  to  the  paths  of  virtue  and  truth.  Never  drive  away 
a  weak  brother  or  sister,  but  tell  them  everything  you  have  is 
theirs,  too:  invite  them  in.  saying.  "This  is  the  home  of  Har- 
mony— come  in  and  tarrv  with  us  for  one  day;  we  will  all  be 
one  with  Hod."  Look  at  your  beautiful  sunshine:  it  is  just  as 
true  to  von  as  it  is  to  me.  Xow  we  revel  in  luxury  and  blossom 
out  into  beautiful  flowers:  flowers  that  have  all  the  tints  and 
colors  of  spirituality.  One  day  they  will  all  be  merged  into 


ALICE  GARY 

white,  the  emblem  of  the  Father  and  Mother  God  whose  soul 
right  we  will  not  always  plead  for,  but  we  will  command  it  to 
obey  our  condition. 

My  trusted  friend,  since  I  came  to  spirit  life  I  found  no 
Saviour  waiting  for  me.  This  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  my 
parents  and  teachers  taught  me  was  the  Son  of  God  himself  that 
had  taken  on  a  human  form  to  redeem  the  world  and  its  inhab- 
itants, since  he  had  damned  it  through  a  superstitious  abortion 
called  religion,  this  all-wise  God  they  speak  and  preach  of  must 
have  been  an  imbecile  and  got  drunk  on  the  levity  of  his  own 
conceit.  While  in  this  drunken  stupor  he  created  a  world  and 
all  that's  in  it.  Through  this  condition  he  found  it  was  an  im- 
posture and  a  failure  of  the  worst  kind.  Then  he  cursed  it  and 
tried  to  cover  it  up  with  a  flood  so  that  he  might  drown  out  of 
sight  this  terrible  abortion  that  he  had  committed.  This  angel 
that  disobeyed  his  laws  he  cast  out  of  heaven  for  being  a  su- 
perior person  to  his  royal  highness.  This  superior  influence 
showed  to  this  God  what  a  degraded  creature  he  was.  He 
mapped  out  for  him  the  crimes  he  had  committed,  and  those 
principal  crimes  was  three  was  one.  This  intelligence  said.  "Oh 
Lord  God,  mighty  host  of  all,  that  terrible  drunken  debauch 
that  you  have  just  passed  through  has  knocked  all  the  multi- 
plication table  out  of  your  heads.  Three  is  not  one,  votir  high- 
ness: neither  is  one  three."  So  his  lordship  said,  "In  hell  you 
shall  be,  you  imp  of  satan.  You  would  destroy  my  laws  and 
creeds,  and  1  could  not  claim  ten  per  cent,  from  those  hall-breeds 
for  you  know  as  well  as  I  do,  they  have  only  part  of  my  power 
and  I  shall  damn  you  from  this  very  hour."  In  time  this  angel 
disgraced  ripped  up  the  corset  lace  of  Christian  creeds,  and 
crammed  a  little  sense  into  the  half-breeds.  It  lies  within  you 
my  sisters  and  brothers  kind,  to  throw  off  the  shackels  and 
scales  that  make  v»u  blind.  There  is  a  power  Iving  dormant 
there  that  you  can  nourish  up  through  soul  care.  There  are 
rules  in  arithmetic  by  which  you  can  play  this  God  a  trick.  \  au 
can  teach  him  the  law  of  reason  and  common  sense  and  flaunt 
your  flag  in  his  face.  The  power  of  evolution  is  now  guiding 
the  human  race:  the  law  that  1  can  tell  you  of  has  a  power 
through  which  vou  can  scoff  at  this  God.  1  )eal  with  reason  in 
a  wise  way  and  all  your  intellect  will  have  its  natural  play. 


276         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Xo\v,  sir,  we  will  deal  with  part  of  the  medium's  life.  While 
sister  Phoebe  and  I  were  visiting  at  the  home  of  Doctor  Taylor 
in  Boston  one  afternoon,  which  was  on  the  22nd  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1856,  I  think  was  the  year,  there  were  at  the  Taylor  home  a 
number  of  guests.  Doctor  Taylor  called  them  his  selected 
friends,  and  we  were  fortunate  to  be  among  the  number.  I  will 
give  you  the  names  of  those  I  remember :  There  was  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  Lloyd  Garrison,  a  Miss  Mary  Butler.  Theo- 
dore Parker,  Margaret  Fuller  and  a  lady  whose  name  I  think 
was  Dana,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Bishop  Buckley,  Mary  Scott, 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  and  a  Mr.  Charles  Beecher,  a  Miss  Sarah 
Tyler,  Mr.  Warren,  and  Little  Justin,  Ruth  Culver,  Eliza  Hamer- 
shaw,  Mr.  Longfellow,  Olive  and  Eliza  Logan  of  Xew  York,  a 
young  man  who  bore  the  name  of  Samuel  Tilden,  Edwin  Booth, 
Junius  Brutus  Booth  and  a  Miss  Mary  Cameron,  a  blind  lady 
who  bore  the  name  of  Mrs.  Richards,  whom  I  discovered  was  a 
very  beautiful  character:  a  minister  by  the  name  of  Edward 
Everett  Hale,  a  man  who  bore  the  name  of  Charles  Welch  and 
a  gentleman  whom  they  said  was  quite  a  singer — I  think  we 
were  introduced  to  him  by  the  name  of  Slier  or  Sherman  Camp- 
bell. The  host  and  hostess  and  daughter  of  the  house  were 
present,  and  Miss  Phoebe  and  Alice  Cary.  This  afternoon  was 
given  in  honor  of  Edwin  Booth,  the  rising  actor.  He  gave  a 
reading  from  one  of  Shakespeare's  selections,  or  rather  I  should 
say,  plays.  I  am  not  very -well  acquainted  with  theatres  and 
their  sayings,  as  I  never  attended  a  performance  in  my  life. 
Good  friends,  you  must  bear  with  me,  as  that  other  spirit  has 
left  me  some  of  his  influence,  which  conflicts  with  my  language. 
If  1  make  grammatical  mistakes  I  would  thank  you  to  correct 
me — you  see  1  have  made  one  just  now.  I  should  have  said  un- 
grammatical  mistakes,  of  which  I  am  afraid  there  will  be  many 
before  this  communication  is  finished. 

Xow  I  will  relate  to  you  something  of  which  took  place  in 
the  afternoon.  1  discovered  that  Little  Justin  was  a  nervous 
little  creature — either  his  hands  or  his  feet  were  in  constant  mo- 
tion. I  sat  next  to  the  gentleman  who  bore  the  name  of  Ruck- 
ley;  on  his  right  side  sat  .Mr.  Welch.  Mi".  Parker  called  Justin 
to  him  and  in  order  to  reach  him  Justin  had  to  pass  by  where 
we  sat.  Mr.  Welch  made  the  remark.  "That  is  a  little  peculiar 


ALICE  GARY 

piece  of  humanity,  just  look  at  his  anatomy — it  is  all  fibres  and 
nerves  in  constant  motion."  The  Little  One  turned  and  looked 
upon  him  with  the  scorn  of  a  demon  out  of  hell.  The  look  that 
came  from  those  eyes  was  something  terrible  to  behold  and  he 
hissed  out,  saying,  "I  am  the  amalgamation  and  fabrication  of 
that  which  is  beyond  your  reach,  you  low,  grovelling  senility  of 
degradation.  How  dare  you  make  remarks  about  me,  you  con- 
clave of  brutality,"  and  then  he  spit  at  the  man  with  all  the  dis- 
gust that  I  ever  saw  displayed.  The  man  was  about  to  retort 
or  say  something  in  answer  to  what  the  Little  One  had  just  said, 
when  Mr.  Buckley  caught  him  by  the  arm,  saying,  "Welch,  for 
God's  sake  don't  say  anything  more;  he  is  up  in  one  of  his  high 
keys  today  and  is  liable  to  curse  and  swear  at  you  like  a  pirate." 
By  this  time  he  had  reached  Mr.  Parker,  who  had  drawn  him 
in  between  his  legs  and  placed  him  sitting  on  one  knee,  saying, 
"Xow,  Little  One,  are  you  going  to  recite  'Beautiful  Snow'  for 
us  today?"  I  wish  you  had  been  present  to  have  witnessed  that 
beautiful  expression  that  came  over  his  face.  You  would  have 
thought  that  he  was  an  angel  permitted  to  come  for  that  occa- 
sion only.  Mr.  Parker  then  addressed  the  company,  saying, 
"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  on  this  occasion  our  little  guest  will  re- 
cite 'Beautiful  Snow.'  "  He  got  down  from  Mr.  Parker's  knee 
and  was  walking  towards  the  centre  of  the  room.  As  he  passed 
by  Mr.  \Yelch  he  gave  him  such  a  look  of  scorn  it  seemed  to  me 
it  must  have  come  from  out  the  bowels  of  hell — such  a  look  from 
a  human  being's  eyes  I  never  witnessed.  "\Yhen  he  reached  the 
centre  of  the  room  he  smiled  upon  us  all  with  one  of  the  most 
fascinating  smiles  1  think  I  ever  saw.  He  looked  at  the  gentle- 
men in  the  room  in  such  a  coquettish  manner  that  I  first  thought 
that  he  was  going  to  sing  a  love  song,  but  he  straightened  up, 
placed  his  hands  across  his  breast  like  a  Madonna,  then  raised 
his  face  heavenward.  (  >h.  you  ought  to  have  seen  that  angelic 
and  heavenlv  expression  that  came  over  his  face.  Margaret 
Fuller  clutched  hold  of  mv  hand:  she  squee/ed  it  so  hard  that 
it  hurt  me  and  I  almost  cried  out  with  the  pain.  Then  she  re- 
leased mv  hand,  saying.  "Alice  Cary.  what  kind  i>f  a  being  is  that 
that  stands  there  in  the  centre  of  the  room?  A  few  minutes  ago 
he  had  the  look  ol  hell  in  those  eyes  and  then  the}'  simmered 
down  to  a  fascinating  look  for  men.  lust  look  at  the  heavenlv 


278         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

expression  that  face  bears."  I  found  that  she  was  perspiring, 
and  I  was  too.  Mr.  Holmes,  who  sat  on  the  other  side  of  her, 
said,  "Great  God,  but  this  is  a  treat." 

The  Little  One  commenced  to  speak  the  lines  of  "Beautiful 
Snow,"  and  I  wish  I  could  give  the  expression  to  the  words  that 
he  gave  to  them  that  afternoon ;  his  emphasizing  and  punctua- 
tion were  wonderful.  He  spoke  the  words  something  like  this: 
''Snow,  snow,  beautiful  snow,  I  once  was  as  pure  as  the  snow; 
But  alas,  like  a  snowflake  I  fell  from  heaven  to  hell."  Oh,  I 
just  wish  I  could  express  it  to  you,  the  feeling  and  sentiment 
that  he  threw  upon  the  people.  When  he  had  spoken  the  last 
lines  of  the  poem  I  could  see  the  tears  coursing  down  the 
guests'  cheeks,  while  my  own  were  quite  moist.  All  of  a  sudden 
he  went  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous.  He  broke  out  into 
a  street  song,  saying,  "My  name  is  raggedy  Jack.  Xo  money  I 
lack,"  which  sent  us  all  off  into  laughing,  but  it  seemed  sacri- 
lege after  that  beautiful  recitation  of  the  poem.  Edwin  Booth 
said,  "He  is  a  natural  born  burlesque  artist."  The  Little  One 
turned  around  and  said  to  Mrs.  Taylor,  "Mamma  Taylor,  I'm 
hungry  and  I  want  something  to  eat.  I  want  it  right  now,  too." 
Mr.  \Yarren  said,  ""Wait,  Pet,  until  we  get  home— then  your 
wants  will  be  supplied."  He  said,  "Xo,  I  won't,  papa;  I  want  it 
now,  and  I  want  a  glass  of  milk,  too,"  and  he  got  it,  you  better 
believe. 

I  saw  the  Taylor  family  understood  him.  "When  he  had  fin- 
ished eating  and  had  drunk  his  milk  Mrs.  Taylor  said,  "The 
Doctor  would  like  to  have  yon  sing  'Coming  Through  the  Rye.'  '' 
He  gave  his  little  foot  a  kick  out,  saying.  "The  Doctor  shall  have 
it.  with  the  greatest  of  pleasure."  Mrs.  Taylor  handed  him  the 
music  book,  while  she  sat  down  and  played  the  accompaniment. 
His  back  was  towards  us  and  in  the  third  verse  while  he  was 
singing  "If  a  body  like  a  body,  need  a  body  tell."  up  went  the 
book  over  his  head  and  came  direct  to  Mr.  \Yelch,  hitting  him 
in  the  face,  bruising  him  severely.  Margaret  Fuller,  clutching 
me  again  said.  "The  creature  is  a  witch  :  some  unseen  hand 
guided  the  book  to  that  unfortunate  man's  face."  When  he  had 
finished  the}'  applauded  him.  He  smiled  and  threw  kisses  to 
the  people.  lie  actually  had  the  audacity  to  throw  three  of 
them  at  the  bruised  man.  I  thought  to  mvself,  "This  creature 


ALICE  GARY  279 

has  no  feeling  in  his  nature."  He  sat  down  and  the  conversa- 
tion went  around  about  the  different  conditions  in  life  and  the 
abilities  of  men  and  women. 

After  the  conversation  lagged  somewhat  Doctor  Taylor 
arose  and  asked  the  guests  to  all  join  him  in  a  hymn.  \Ye  did 
as  requested  and  sang  that  beautiful  hymn,  "Rock  of  Ages." 
How  the  Little  One  contrived  to  loosen  his  shoe  I  don't  know, 
but  while  we  were  singing  he  gave  a  back  kick  with  his  foot, 
off  went  the  shoe  and  struck  that  unfortunate  man  on  the  wind- 
pipe, which  almost  knocked  the  breath  out  of  him  and  he  would 
have  fallen  to  the  floor  had  not  Mr.  Buckley  caught  him  in  his 
arms.  That  broke  up  "Rock  of  Ages"  for  that  day.  Mr.  Buck- 
ley said,  "Welch,  I  told  you  to  keep  your  remarks  to  yourself; 
that  the  Little  One  was  living  away  up  in  a  high  key  today. 
I  could  tell  it  the  minute  he  came  into  the  room;  I  am  so  accus- 
tomed to  his  ways."  The  hostess  of  the  house  invited  us  to  the 
dining  room  to  partake  of  light  refreshments.  We  did  so  and 
many  were  the  pleasant  jokes  that  passed  around.  At  the  table 
Edwin  Booth  sat  between  my  sister  Phoebe  and  Mary  Butler. 
My  sister  Phoebe  addressed  Mr.  Booth,  saying,  "What  a  strange 
being  that  little  boy  is."  Mr.  Booth  said,  "That  little  body  is 
small  in  stature  but  the  spirit  is  old  in  age.  Little  Justin  is  a 
medium.  Physical  manifestations  take  place  in  his  presence." 
He  had  no  sooner  uttered  the  words  when  something  grabbed 
his  fork  and  stuck  it  up  in  the  centre  of  a  chicken  pie,  which 
made  us  all  laugh.  Doctor  Taylor  laughed  so  that  he  could  not 
eat.  All  of  a  sudden  Little  Justin  gave  a  war-whoop  like  an 
Indian,  sprang  on  to  his  chair  and  from  there  onto  the  centre  of 
the  table.  He  commenced  to  dance  a  war  dance,  whooped  and 
hollered  in  such  a  manner  it  frightened  Miss  Scott,  who  was  an 
old  maid,  so  that  she  fainted  and  fell  to  the  floor.  As  she  was 
falling  she  grabbed  hold  of  Mr.  Holmes  and  they  both  went 
down  together.  The  company  laughed  in  such  a  hilarious  man- 
ner that  a  number  of  them  commenced  to  hold  their  sides. 
Edwin  Booth  held  on  to  the  table  while  he  shook  with  laughter. 
When  things  were  adjusted  and  all  had  become  quiet  and  equi- 
librium seemed  to  reign  once  more  and  as  they  accomplished 
the  task  of  separating  Mr.  Holmes  from  Miss  Scott's  grasp, 
which  he  was  not  overwilling  to  have  done,  as  it  looked,  the}- 


280         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

called  upon  Mr.  Booth  to  make  a  speech.  He  informed  the  com- 
pany present  that  any  expression  that  he  could  make  or  any 
words  that  he  could  use  would  become  inadequate  to  anything 
that  he  might  say  on  this  occasion  and  he  could  only  play  a 
gentleman  citizen  to  the  star  of  the  afternoon,  Little  Justin. 
How  Little  Justin  stepped  and  danced  over  that  table  without 
making  any  noise  I  could  not  tell  then. 

\Yhen  all  the  party  had  adjourned  to  the  parlor  and  sobered 
down,  for  laughing  had  ceased  but  their  sides  were  aching  from 
the  frolic  they  had  indulged  in,  Mr.  Taylor  led  off  singing  the 
song  "Home,  Sweet  Home,"  with  all  the  party  joining  on  that 
occasion.  Just  as  the  song  had  finished  Little  Justin  sprang 
onto  the  back  of  Edwin  Booth,  yelling  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
"I  am  the  ghost,  while  underneath  is  the  biggest  ham  the  stage 
ever  saw/'  which  made  the  company  scream  and  roar  so  with 
laughter  that  I  felt  some  of  them  might  go  off  into  a  fit,  with  the 
exception  of  Miss  Scott,  as  she  did  not  make  her  appearance 
on  this  occasion.  YYhen  the  Little  One  jumped  from  Mr.  Booth's 
back  on  to  the  floor  Mr.  Booth  seized  him  and  kissed  him  pro- 
fusely, saying,  "There  is  only  one  Little  Justin."  Several  others 
grabbed  hold  of  him  and  thought  they  would  like  to  suffer  the 
same  fate.  Mr.  YYarren  saw  the  army  was  growing  strong  and 
thought  it  was  about  time  to  attack  the  fort,  release  the  prisoner 
and  carry  him  off.  He  did  so  by  saying,  "Come,  Little  One, 
papa  wants  you  to  go  home  and  take  a  nap  before  your  night 
work  commences."  They  bade  us  adieu  and  we  waved  them 
good  bye  with  our  handkerchiefs.  I  said  to  Mr.  Parker,  "That 
is  a  strange  child."  He  said,  "In  that  little  body  is  a  volcano  of 
emotion,  apt  to  burst  forth  at  any  moment.  If  you  want  to  see 
a  born  scamp  go  and  see  him  in  the  character  of  'Aladdin,  or  the 
\\onderful  Scamp.'  If  you  wish  to  see  a  coquettish  maid  with 
all  the  flirtation  that  the  female  nature  is  subject  to  and  has  all 
the  excuses  that  the  world  will  allow,  go  and  see  her  in  'Many 
Strings  to  Her  Bow,'  or  'Love  in  All  Corners.'  If  you  want  to 
see  a  gentle,  meek,  submissive  maid,  one  that  arises  to  the  dig- 
nity of  a  lady  and  a  princess  with  all  the  flirtations  of  a  pure 
heart,  go  and  see  her  in  'Cinderella.'  "  I  never  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  her.  as  I  never  attended  any  theatre.  Our  people 
taught  us  it  was  the  entrance  to  the  pit  of  hell. 


ALICE  GARY  281 

Thursday,  October  17,  1901. 

Good  morning,  friend.  I  have  slipped  into  your  dwelling 
without  asking  your  permission.  The  day  is  warm  and  balmy, 
the  air  is  sweet  and  pure.  Oh,  sir,  your  mountain  home  and 
live  oak  glade  is  the  abode  of  spiritual  fairies  that  come  and  go 
at  will.  I  wish  this  little  body  had  the  perfect  beauty  of  the 
sunshine  that  warms  all  nature  in  your  mountain  retreat,  but 
alas,  it  cannot  be  so — the  body  has  almost  finished  its  task  and 
one  day  the  spirit  will  be  free  to  enjoy  the  realms  of  spiritual 
sunlight,  but  it  is  held  down  by  two  natures,  the  cause  of  which 
is  taking  on  re-embodiment.  These  natures  control  the  physical 
for  a  time,  the  female  predominating.  It  has  been  the  desire  of 
the  spiritual  over  soul  to  take  on  this  condition.  What  I  mean 
by  the  spiritual  oversold  is  the  highest  aspiration  in  spiritual 
affinity  to  the  human  race.  It  has  been  guided  and  conducted 
bv  a  light  of  truth  through  which  it  is  constantly  unfolding  this 
double  nature  to  the  physical  world.  I  have  made  a  discovery 
along  the  female  line  of  life  that  there  are  many  women  living 
on  earth  today  where  the  highest  part  of  their  nature  is  the  male 
element.  These  women  fall  in  love  with  the  female  sex  and 
through  their  condition  they  attract  other  women  to  their  ele- 
ment. \Yhen  these  women  come  en  rapport  with  their  whole 
nature  along  the  line  of  the  masculine  women  there  is  a  combi- 
nation formed  which  brings  their  natures  in  harmony  with  each 
other:  through  that  condition  they  live  as  husband  and  wife. 

(  )n  the  male  line  of  life  I  have  discovered  the  wearing  of 
a  coat,  vest  and  trousers  to  be  the  covering  of  a  woman's  na- 
ture :  that  located  in  their  soul  is  the  love  for  a  man.  During 
sonic  time  of  their  lite  they  meet  a  man  that  their  whole  soul 
goes  out  to;  they  fall  in  love  with  each  other  and  become  man 
and  wife.  Their  life  becomes  a  heaven  on  earth.  \Yhy?  lie- 
cause  their  souls  are  blended  and  evervthing  in  life  becomes 
genial  to  their  nature.  (  hi  one  side  it  is  a  mother  taking  on  the 
part  of  a  male  nature  as  far  as  she  possibly  can  to  prepare  her- 
self for  the  coming  sons  of  the  future  generations.  Ah.  little 
does  the  medical  fraternity  understand  those  conditions  in  the 
human  family — the}-  are  called  by  medical  men  and  others. 
freaks  in  nature.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  freak  in  Nature; 
all  is  in  accordance  with  spiritual  development,  which  is  the 


282         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

mother  star  of  the  human  race  and  bears  the  torchlight  to  pro- 
gress and  freedom.  It  is  the  cold,  clammy  web  of  ignorance 
that  surrounds  the  medical  fraternity  and  its  education  a  lack  of 
spiritual  growth  and  the  higher  laws  of  spiritual  reason  that  they 
do  not  seem  to  comprehend,  that  bars  them  out  from  the  proper 
understanding  of  the  human  ken.  That  is  the  record  of  those 
that  inhabit  bodies  and  whose  education  is  only  a  mockery 
knocking  at  the  door  of  ignorance  when  their  souls  should  be 
attuned  to  all  that  which  lies  in  progress  and  the  highest  intel- 
lect of  God.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  mistake  in  life.  It  is 
the  want  of  proper  knowledge.  The  law  of  wisdom  will  guide 
all  human  nature  to  the  realm  of  truth  if  they  will  but  accept 
it,  but  as  long  as  they  hold  to  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  indulging 
and  gorging  their  stomachs  with  animal  flesh,  which  clogs  up 
all  the  higher  senses  in  their  nature  that  would  lead  them  to  spir- 
itual growth,  and  as  long  as  they  eat  that  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  destruction  of  life  to  satisfy  the  craving  appetite  of 
sensuality.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  any  one  to  eat  flesh 
and  not  debase  their  manhood  and  womanhood  by  cannibalism 
which  destroys  the  life  which  the  God  of  nature  gave  to  the 
creature.  Such  individuals  as  I  describe  never  can  reach  the 
higher  growth  of  spirituality  and  true  affinity  with  God  until 
they  have  purged  and  cleansed  their  bodies  from  all  carnal  de- 
sires of  flesh  eating  and  taking  life.  Nature  has  supplied  them 
with  all  the  ingredients  to  give  them  a  force  which  will  create 
strength  and  nutrition  for  the  brain ;  a  higher  conception  for 
that  great  glorious  power  that  the  human  race  calls  God.  You 
have  cereals,  nuts  and  fruit  in  abundance,  which  is  sufficient 
to  supply  all  the  wants  of  the  physical  body,  but  as  long  as  the 
human  mind  will  gloat  on  the  gore  of  animal  blood,  men  and 
women  will  be  held  down  to  the  lower  plane  of  earth  life.  It 
would  be  well  if  your  ministers  and  medical  teachers  had  the 
higher  sense  of  the  divinity  of  nature  in  their  make-up  and  knew 
whereof  this  low,  beastly  mode  of  living  was  retarding  the 
growth  of  all  that  was  spiritual  in  the  human  race.  It  will  be 
left  to  woman  to  ope-n  the  eyes  and  minds  of  those  grovelling 
on  the  lower  planes  of  life  of  sensuality  and  degradation  that 
has  held  them  in  bondage  so  long.  The  credulity  of  life  is  so 
low  and  gross  that  all  freedom  has  been  kept  back  by  a  wall  of 


ALICE  GARY  283 

superstition  built  up  by  man's  tyranny  towards  the  woman  he 
claims  to  love  as  wife  and  mother. 

My  generous  male  friend,  do  you  think  there  is  a  blush  lo- 
cated somewhere  in  the  souls  of  men  that  would  mantle  their 
cheek  with  shame  for  the  manner  in  which  they  have  treated 
the  mothers  of  the  human  race?  Oh  sir,  it  was  a  glorious  day 
when  those  little,  tiny  raps  knocked  at  the  door  of  bondage, 
giving  women  the  full  understanding  of  freedom  and  equality. 
On  the  spirit  side  of  life  we  women  are  building  up  a  condition 
through  which  we  will  march  and  take  possession  of  the  highest 
seat  in  our  glorious  nation.  Look,  sir,  at  your  late  lamented 
President  who  was  cut  down  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood  by  the 
assassin's  bullet — the  bullet  of  a  low,  ignorant  cur  whose  mind 
was  deluded  by  ignorance,  disgrace  and  shame.  He  was  fed  by 
the  flaunting  thought  of  those  beastly  flesh  eaters  whose  whole 
life  is  sloth  and  a  curse  to  the  human  race ;  whose  body  has  been 
built  up  by  the  flesh  of  swine,  known  as  the  lowest  animal  to 
the  human  race.  \Yhat  could  you  expect  from  a  man  of  people 
constantly  fed  on  hogs'  brains,  and  yet  many  of  our  college  bred 
individuals  claim  you  cannot  be  strong  without  you  eat  and 
drink  the  flesh  and  blood  of  diseased  animals.  They  are  fit  indi- 
viduals to  sing  the  hymn.  "Washed  in  Jesus'  Blood."  The  man 
who  composed  that  hymn  was  a  low  specimen  of  human  Christi- 
anity. And  so  it  is,  my  friend,  that  such  noble  men  as  William 
McKinley  should  be  cut  down  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  who 
was  a  low  swine  eater.  \Yilliam  McKinley  had  a  soul  who  loved 
to  see  women  grow  and  progress  and  mount  to  the  highest  part 
of  civilization  ;  he  would  protect  their  honor  and  virtue  with  his 
life  ;  his  was  a  spiritual  soul,  working  for  the  benefit  of  his  fel- 
low men  and  women,  but  alas,  he  had  to  be  cut  off  from  this 
noble  life  in  which  he  was  an  example  to  our  nation. 

Through  the  passing  of  his  spirit  out  of  that  body  into  spir- 
itual conditions  in  life  he  will  now  manifest  a  perfect  manhood 
that  will  wake  up  your  nation  and  teach  them  a  lesson.  Through 
their  ignorance  they  had  not  the  perfect  thought.  It  will  only 
be  realized  when  man  and  women  stand  equal  in  all  things,  and 
through  this  equality  they  will  give  the  coming  strength  to  your 
sons  and  daughters  of  free  America.  P>ut  that  freedom  will  be 
protected  by  the  laws  of  morality  and  civilization.  Your  nation 


284         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

will  yet  experience  the  power  of  woman's  mind.  She  will  un- 
fold to  man  a  higher  intellect  than  he  ever  understood  before. 
It  will  be  a  benediction  of  spiritual  growth  that  the  perfect  an- 
gels have  furnished  for  woman's  mind.  The  time  is  coming  when 
it  will  no  longer  be  said,  "I  am  the  man  and  master  of  the  house ; 
my  will  is  law  here."  Ah,  but  he  will  have  to  change  his  man- 
ner of  speech  for  through  that  law  called  reason  the  festive 
board  will  be  garnished  with  wisdom  and  woman  will  produce  a 
fitting  condition  for  man  to  wake  up  out  of  this  dead  lethargy 
and  disease  of  conceit.  She  will  map  it  out  to  the  male  muddled 
brain  that  growth  eternal  and  the  law  of  progression  is  a  fixed 
star,  that  all  will  have  to  reach  that  destination  some  day  an'd 
cry  out  aloud,  "I  have  found  God's  star.  It  is  the  beacon  light 
of  freedom  and  perfection."  She  will  knock  off  that  carnal  con- 
ceited cap  that  the  male  condition  of  life  has  been  wearing  so 
long  and  she  will  sweetly  say,  "Permit  the  truth  of  sunlight  to 
permeate  that  cranium  of  positive  conceit,  more  often  filled  up 
by  sawdust  liabilities  than  that  of  elected  motion  that  moves  all 
heavenly  bodies  at  will." 

When  the  human  race  has  entered  the  school  of  contrition 
and  docility  and  understands  the  condition  of  humble  ability, 
then  there  will  come  a  wave  of  spiritual  intellect  out  of  the  home 
where  power,  divinity  and  love  is  created.  It  will  bear  down 
on  the  feeble  mind  of  conceit;  create  in  it  a  desire  for  growth. 
Then  it  will  throw  aside  all  this  craving  condition  that  says.  "I 
understand  it  all."  Poor,  weak  humanity,  clothed  in  book  learn- 
ing, yet  never  understood  the  many  phases  of  human  life.  Na- 
ture has  given  that  great  power  to  the  human  mind,  that  through 
embodiment  there  is  no  position  or  duty  in  life  that  they  cannot 
perform,  but  can  perform  through  will  power  when  they  have 
taken  upon  themselves  the  graces  of  God  through  which  they 
can  work  all  these  conditions  that  I  have  just  described.  When 
you  have  a  desire  to  take  on  a  body  you  can  represent  the  phases 
of  both  sexes  by  the  amalgamation  of  that  growth  that  spirit 
lends  power  to.  When  you  have  returned  to  spirit  life  after  you 
have  performed  the  duty  in  the  physical  body,  you  take  up  again 
the  original  sex  in  which  this  great  generator  of  life  first  cre- 
ated you.  (  >h  children,  children  of  earth,  could  you  onlv  under- 
stand all  the  laws  that  God  has  at  work  through  which  you  carry 


ALICE  GARY 

out  and  fulfill  your  mission  in  each  embodiment.  Your  life  line 
is  traced  on  the  dial  of  perpetual  motion  and  as  you  pass  around 
its  great  circle  and  as  you  stop  at  each  resting  place,  you  give 
an  account  of  your  past  work,  then  your  soul  becomes  clearer, 
brighter  and  more  exalted.  You  commence  to  understand  there 
is  a  glorification  in  the  outworking  of  each  condition.  Then  you 
discover  there  is  no  perpetual  rest,  but  all  is  perpetual  growth 
and  when  you  understand  that  you  must  become  a  perfect  God 
and  you  have  realized  this  condition  satisfactory  to  the  father 
and  mother  God  of  all  life,  all  errors  have  been  corrected  by 
your  work,  then  you  stand  equal  as  a  male  and  female  God, 
ready  and  willing  to  become  a  creator  of  planets  called  heavenly 
bodies. 

The  true  science  of  all  life  lies  in  the  perfection  of  the  per- 
fect soul  which  is  blended  into  the  true  affinity  of  the  male  and 
female  God,  the  perfection  of  all  life.  I  shall  be  glad  when  the 
schools  of  reasoning  powers  are  opened  up  to  the  human  family 
so  that  they  may  understand  the  perfection  of  divinity  arises  out 
of  ignorance  by  the  spiritual  side  of  life  and  the  earth  side  of 
life  blending  into  one  great  eon,  the  Elohini  of  perfection.  I 
thank  the  powers  that  have  opened  my  mind  through  which  I 
have  grasped  a  little  light  that  has  led  me  to  the  higher  truths 
of  nature.  I  thank  you,  generous  friend,  for  taking  down  my 
communication  and  if  it  will  be  any  benefit  to  you  you  are  wel- 
come to  my  feeble  attempt  in  portraying  a  little  of  human  life. 
I  leave  my  love  to  the  little  wanderer  Justin,  whose  fate  and 
walks  through  life  have  been  hard  and  many  times  cruel.  lie 
had  the  benefit  of  knowing  how  to  drink  the  sours  and  the  sweets 
from  the  cup  of  life.  Oh.  the  body  became  rebellious  sometimes, 
but  the  spirit  conquered  it  by  an  antidote  little  understood  by 
many  of  the  human  race.  Xo  priestcraft  held  power  there. 
There  was  a  plank  laid  for  him  to  walk  upon  and  he  had  to  walk 
it  straight,  too.  There  was  a  power  behind  that  did  not  permit 
him  to  swerve  to  the  left  or  the  right,  but  straight  ahead  is  the 
empire  of  your  onward  march.  You  pledged  your  life  for  this 
work  and  the  regeneration  of  your  soul's  growth,  keep  straight 
ahead  or  I  will  prod  you  with  the  spear  of  memorv.  Your  con- 
science must  be  purified  by  the  unfoldment  of  that  which  is 
within  you.  Aye,  and  he  carried  it  out,  too,  which  his  work  in 


286         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

the  late  rebellion  can  testify.  When  they  became  soldiers  in  the 
army  of  progress  it  straightened  out  both  men  and  women,  you 
had  better  believe.  If  any  prove  laggards  and  abuse  that  which 
they  have  sworn  to  fulfill,  they  are  thrust  aside  and  others  take 
their  places  in  the  march  of  progress.  Those  that  are  found  too 
weak  return  to  a  school  of  education  that  fits  them  in  time  to 
undertake  the  battle  again,  so  you  see,  good  sir,  that  nothing 
goes  to  waste  in  spirit  life.  All  shall  become  in  time  soldiers  of 
Love  and  Charity. 

When  I  look  upon  this  little  physical  body,  old  and  decrepit 
by  wind  and  weather,  I  think  of  those  beautiful  lines — 

"Oh  spirit  divine,  thou  art  mine, 

I  hold  you  in  this  power  for  with  light  thou  must  rhyme, 

Since  nature  and  thou  are  divine.'' 
Thanking  you  once  more,  I  bid  you  good  day.     Alice  Gary. 


Phoebe  Gary 

Chapter  XXVI 


Good  morning,  friend.  The  wind  is  blowing  and  the  world 
is  wagging.  It  is  not  quite  as  pleasant  a  day  as  when  I  accom- 
panied Frances  Willard  and  Sister  Alice  to  your  home.  Al- 
though it  blows  outside  I  am  going  to  have  a  real  sociable  talk 
with  you  in  this  room. 

Do  you  know — well,  perhaps  you  don't — that  all  my  views 
are  entirely  changed  since  I  have  lived  in  spirit  life?  When  I 
came  to  spirit  life  all  my  ideas  were  very  orthodox.  I  believed 
in  infant  damnation,  hell  fire  and  all  other  repulsive  ideas 
preached  by  ministers.  I  thought  my  Saviour  would  be  there 
to  meet  me  and  when  I  arrived  I  met  a  big  disappointment.  I 
met  no  Saviour,  no  God,  only  men  and  women  like  myself. 

Lucy  Taylor  came  forward  and  said,  "Friend  Phoebe,  you 
look  disappointed,  but  never  mind — you  will  soon  recover  from 
that.  All  the  preaching  and  praying  that  you  heard  while  in 
your  physical  body  goes  for  nothing  here.  All  religion  is  man 
made  and  the  expectation  of  a  Saviour  to  receive  you  is  all  bosh 
and  nonsense  of  the  worst  kind.  Xow  come  with  me,  I'hoebe 
dear,  and  I  will  bring  you  to  a  circle  where  intellectual  people 
live."  I  said,  "What  has  become  of  all  my  prayers  that  I  offered 
up  on  my  bended  knees  to  this  crucified  Christ  that  I  have  shed 
many  tears  for  his  suffering?"  She  said,  "Phoebe  dear,  they 
have  all  been  distributed  into  space,  like  many  millions  of  other 
prayers  that  were  only  empty,  meaningless  baubles.  Come,  dear. 
I  will  take  you  where  your  friends  and  my  friends  will  teach 
you  so  that  you  may  understand  bv  the  explanation  they  will 
give  you.  It  has  all  been  a  hollow  mockery  and  we  were  dupes 
ot  priestcraft.  A  class  of  men  that  are  too  lazy  to  earn  their 
bread  bv  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  Thev  become  educated  into 


288         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

this  diseased  condition  of  imagination  in  order  that  dupes  will 
support  them."  I  went  with  her  as  she  desired  to  a  locality 
in  spirit  life  where  I  found  many  old  friends  and  new  ones.  I 
was  surprised  to  see  their  bright  faces  and  the  beautiful  expres- 
sion of  intellect  that  each  face  contained.  I  said,  "You  have  all 
improved  so  wonderfully  since  you  came  here  to  spirit  life.  Do 
you  think  I  can  grow  to  look  like  you?"  Many  of  them  said, 
"Oh  yes,  Phoebe,  when  you  have  lived  down  and  cast  aside  all 
the  superstition  that  religion  held  you  under.  It  is  by  spiritual 
intellect  and  a  natural  growth  that  brought  us  out  of  that  con- 
dition called  religion,  sloth  which  is  the  scene  of  all  ignorance 
and  the  degraded  part  of  men  and  women's  intellect.  Here  we 
are  taught  the  law  of  reason  and  each  one's  conscience  judges 
them  according  to  their  condition  that  God  sitting  on  a  throne 
that  we  had  all  been  taught  to  believe  in  is  a  delusion  and  a 
mockery.  Nature  is  our  mother- — she  rules,  directs  and  governs 
all  principles  in  life.  Here  we  know  of  no  other  God  but  nature 
and  her  laws ;  we  find  that  there  are  individuals  more  exalted 
than  others.  Their  souls  have  been  drawn  nearer  to  the  divinity 
of  life  and  we  can  all  get  there  if  we  only  place  our  mind  in 
the  proper  channel  that  leads  to  wisdom  and  truth,  the  power 
of  God,  that  is  the  God  of  nature  is  in  each  and  every  one  of  us. 
We  develop  and  build  up  that  God  according  to  the  principles 
of  our  nature.  All  realms  exist  in  the  freedom  of  nature.  We 
become  demons  or  Gods  according  to  our  desires.  We  chose  to 
develop  within  us  the  law  of  wisdom  and  generosity.  That  is 
why  you  sec  such  an  expression  upon  our  faces.  Our  souls  have 
only  one  desire,  and  that  is  to  live  in  the  realm  of  Truth.  As 
you  see,  our  soul  expresses  its  thought  through  our  eyes,  as 
they  are  the  windows  of  the  soul.  Deception  and  hypocrisy 
have  no  abiding  place  with  us.  That  is  why  you  find  no  minis- 
ters here.  We  all  live  on  a  plane  of  equality,  assisting  each 
other  to  grow  to  the  highest  divinity  that  our  souls  are  capable 
of  reaching.  When  we  have  understood  all  the  beautiful  laws 
in  nature  and  work  in  harmony  with  their  conditions  then  we 
will  become  generators  and  creators  understanding  how  it  is  to 
walk  with  nature's  God." 

I  said,  "Friends,  permit  me  to  lay  my  soul  bare  before  you. 
Teach  me  how  I  may  become  washed  and  cleansed  of  all  that 


PHOEBE  GARY  289 

nightmare  and  delusion,  mockery  and  superstition  that  my  poor 
feeble  brain  has  been  filled  with  and  crammed  by  what  they  call 
Christianity.  You  see,  my  religion  built  up  a  wall  of  supersti- 
tion and  imagination  between  me  and  nature  God.  Direct  and 
teach  me  some  of  the  principles  that  I  may  gain  the  law  of  rea- 
son that  will  teach  me  how  to  knock  at  wisdom's  door.  I  am 
willing  to  become  one  of  nature's  little  children  again,  so  that  I 
may  bathe  and  take  my  bath  in  the  elevation  of  nature's  purity — 
not  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  holds  the  stench  of  the  Christian 
slaughter  house.  I  bathed  in  that  long  enough  while  living  in 
a  physical  body.  I  denied  myself  of  many  of  the  beautiful  pleas- 
ures in  life,  such  as  attending  the  opera  and  theatre,  and  all  the 
beautiful  concerts  that  were  given  outside  the  church." 

Now  I  can  look  back  and  see  what  weak  mortals  our  relig- 
ion made  of  us.  It  was  looked  upon  as  a  heinous  crime  to  at- 
tend any  place  of  amusement  or  recreation  whatever  for  the 
brain  outside  of  the  church.  But  it  was  no  crime  to  read  and 
believe  in  the  persecutions  of  old  Calvin  that  he  forced  upon 
the  human  family  if  they  did  not  believe  as  he  did.  Now  I  can 
look  back  and  see  the  early  Puritans  of  Xew  England  were  a 
cold,  heartless  class  of  people — their  whole  life  seemed  to  be 
filled  with  persecution  and  superstition.  They  claimed  they  fled 
from  persecution  and  came  to  this  continent  to  worship  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  their  own  heart,  but  they  set  up  a  law 
of  tyranny  here  on  this  continent  worse  than  the  one  they  tried 
to  escape  from.  They  persecuted  all  who  did  not  believe  as  they 
did.  They  put  to  death  innocent  men  and  women  for  what  they 
called  witchcraft.  Poor,  miserable  creatures,  who  had  souls  no 
larger  than  a  speck  that  you  might  find  on  the  leaves  of  nature. 
They  whipped  men  and  women  for  being  Quakers,  who  held  in 
their  natures  the  nobility  of  heart,  while  they,  miserable  curs, 
knew  not  what  generosity  meant,  but  I  thank  the  God  of  nature 
I  am  out  of  all  that  condition.  I  am  consatntly  growing  in  the 
.love  of  those  that  surround  me  with  their  mantle  of  charity.  I 
find  many  here  on  this  side  of  life  who  seem  to  hold  back  from 
the  higher  law  of  intellect.  They  seem  to  be  in  a  miserable  c<  >n- 
dition  and  all  that  surrounds  them  is  miserable,  too.  "Like  at- 
tracts like"  here.  1  find  true  kinship  in  our  nature  is  through  the 
soul's  attraction.  Earth  relationship  amounts  to  nothing  if  you 


290          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

have  not  the  true  divinity  within  you  and  are  willing  to  share 
it  with  those  that  are  attracted  to  you,  which  forms  in  time  a 
circle  of  unity  and  love  where  harmony  reigns  perpetual. 

Now  I  will  speak  somewhat  on  the  medium's  life — that  is, 
a  little  part  of  that  which  I  knew  and  came  en  rapport  with. 
Sister  Alice  gave  you  quite  an  explanation  of  the  afternoon  that 
we  enjoyed  at  Doctor  Taylor's  home  where  Mr.  Warren  and 
Little  Justin  were  among  the  guests.  Miss  Campbell  also  gave 
you  a  description  of  the  enjoyable  afternoon  that  was  passed  at 
the  Logan  home  in  New  York  City  wherein  Little  Justin  played 
quite  a  part — we  being  present  on  that  occasion,  that  is,  Sister 
Alice  and  myself.  Xow  I  am  going  to  speak  of  where  we  met 
him,  which  was  at  Louisa  Alcott's  home  and  also  at  Mr.  Emer- 
son's home.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  I  should  have  said.  While 
we  were  visiting  at  Concord,  Mass.  He  was  present  one  after- 
noon on  the  occasion  of  our  visit  to  the  Alcott  home.  He  sang 
for  us  several  beautiful  pieces,  which  we  \vere  all  delighted  with. 
I  discovered  outside  of  his  many  talents  he  was  only  a  mere 
child  in  growth  and  talked  as  other  little  children  did.  I  could 
see  he  was  a  little  clinging  vine  and  required  some  manly  form 
to  cling  to,  which  he  found  in  the  person  of  a  Mr.  Warren,  who 
seemed  to  my  eyes  the  handsomest  and  most  manly  form  I  ever 
saw.  I  could  see  he  loved  Justin  very  clearly,  his  eyes  following 
the  Little  One  wherever  he  went.  I  discovered  that  Little  Jus- 
tin had  a  violent  temper.  Some  one  inadvertently  said  some- 
thing he  did  not  like  ;  he  went  off  like  a  firecracker,  and  oh,  how 
he  could  swear.  I  never  listened  to  such  oaths  before  in  my 
life.  They  really  made  me  shudder.  I  caught  hold  of  Mr.  Al- 
cott's hand,  who  sat  next  to  me,  for  I  was  really  afraid  that 
something  might  happen  to  the  house.  I  expected  every  min- 
ute that  God  would  strike  it  with  lightning,  when  Louisa  looked 
over  at  me  and  smiled,  saying,  "Don't  be  afraid,  Phoebe  :  he  will 
come  out  all  right.  Mr.  Warren  has  got  him  now  and  he  will 
quiet  down."  I  told  her  I  thought  he  was  the  worst  sinner  I 
ever  met,  which  made  Mr.  Alcott  laugh.  Mr.  Warren  quieted 
him  down  and  he  went  to  sleep  for  a  little  while.  Conversation 
went  on  in  its  general  way. 

After  awhile  he  woke  up  from  his  sleep.  Looking  up  at  Mr. 
Warren  he  said,  "Papa,  I  am  awfully  glad  you've  got  brown 


PHOEBE  GARY  291 

eyes."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "And  I  am  glad  yours  are  such  a  dark 
blue.  They  look  like  a  mirror  to  see  one's  face  in."  Then  the 
Little  One  commenced  to  tickle  Mr.  Warren  under  the  chin  and 
ran  his  little  hands  down  inside  of  his  collar,  which  got  Mr. 
Warren  to  laughing,  also  the  rest  of  the  company.  All  of  a  sud- 
den he  said,  "Papa,  let's  go  out  and  play  circus."  I  thought  to 
myself,  "For  heaven's  sake — is  this  the  person  that  cursed  and 
swore  so  a  little  while  ago?  Now  he  seems  to  be  as  gentle  as 
a  little  lamb."  Miss  Louisa  said,  "Justin,  won't  you  sing  us 
something?"  He  said,  "All  right,  Louie."  I  noticed  that  he  al- 
ways called  her  "Louie"  when  speaking  to  her.  He  said,  "Louie, 
what  shall  I  sing  for  you?"  She  said,  "Sing  'Angels  Ever  Bright 
and  Fair.'  "  '  One  of  the  ladies  present  sat  down  to  the  piano 
and  played  the  accompaniment.  He  commenced  to  sing  and  oh, 
how  beautiful  it  was.  I  asked  God  to  forgive  me  for  the  wrong 
thoughts  I  held  towards  him.  When  he  had  finished  singing  the 
hymn  I  thought  that  we  had  been  listening  to  an  angel.  All  of 
a  sudden  he  turned  around  and  looked  at  Mr.  Warren,  saying, 
"Papa,  I'm  damned  if  you  don't  come  out  and  play  circus,  I'll 
raise  hell."  I  became  speechless  for  a  time.  When  I  had  col- 
lected my  thoughts  I  said  low  to  Mr.  Alcott,  "In  the  name  of  all 
that's  good  and  glorious,  what  kind  of  a  person  is  that — will  you 
tell  me?"  He  said,  "I  think  he  is  the  sweetest  little  creature  I 
ever  knew."  I  said,  "Mr.  Alcott,  how  can  you  say  that?"  He 
said,  "Oh,  he  lives  on  impulses  and  that  is  one  of  his  impulses. 
He  has  many  good  ones  that  counteract  that  one."  I  had  no 
sooner  spoken  the  words  when  down  came  some  books  off  a 
shelf.  I  jumped  up  and  said,  "In  the  name  of  all  that's  blessed, 
I  hope  my  saviour  will  forgive  me."  I  grabbed  Sister  Alice's 
hand,  saying,  "Let's  get  out  of  here  as  quick  as  possible."  Just 
as  we  got  to  the  door  it  was  shut  in  our  faces.  I  dropped  on 
my  knees  and  implored  God  to  protect  us  for  we  were  in  the 
clutches  of  the  devil.  I  had  no  sooner  gotten  the  words  out 
when  that  imp  of  satan,  as  I  thought  then,  jumped  on  to  my 
shoulders,  hollered  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  "Three  cheers 
for  the  American  Eagle  and  E.  Pluribus  I'nuin."  He  jumped 
from  my  shoulders,  turned  a  somersault,  or  whatever  you  call 
it.  and  landed  on  Mrs.  Catherine  Hobart's  lap.  She  screamed, 
"Take  the  imp  of  satan  away,"  and  then  fainted.  There  was  a 


292         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

little  boy  there,  I  judge  about  ten  years  old.  He  hollered  out, 
"Gorry,  but  this  is  a  regular  Fourth  of  July."  I  swooned  and 
didn't  know  anything  for  some  time,  for  I  really  thought  that 
we  had  got  into  the  clutches  of  the  devil.  When  I  came  back 
to  consciousness,  Mr.  Emerson  was  standing  over  me,  holding 
his  sides  with  laughter,  and  the  tears  running  down  his  face, 
while  Sister  Alice  was  bathing  my  head  with  cologne.  I  said, 
"If  I  ever  get  out  of  here  alive  I  will  take  the  first  train  for  Bos- 
ton, Sister  Alice,  and  you  must  go  with  me  where  we  will  get 
protection  from  these  evil  spirits.  I  always  heard  that  old  Con- 
cord was  haunted  by  evil  spirits,  and  now  I  believe  it."  Louisa 
Alcott  said,  ''Phoebe  dear,  your  nerves  are  worked  up  to  a  high 
pitch  and  that  is  why  you  swooned.  Xo  harm  will  -come  to  you 
here,  dear."  Just  then  I  saw  the  little  imp  coming  in  through 
the  window,  and  as  he  came  towards  me  I  screamed  for  the 
people  to  take  him  away.  He  pushed  them  aside  and  looked 
at  me  with  the  queerest  leer  in  his  eyes  I  ever  saw.  He  said, 
"She  needs  soothing  syrup,"  and  with  that  he  grabbed  both  my 
feet  and  twisted  them  this  way  and  that  way,  and  God  knows 
how  many  other  ways.  I  can't  tell  you,  for  it  made  me  cry  out 
with  the  pain.  Then  he  slammed  both  my  feet  down,  then  seized 
hold  of  my  hand,  knelt  down  in  front  of  me  and  offered  up  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  prayers  I  ever  heard  for  my  welfare  and 
digestion.  When  he  had  finished  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  jumped 
into  the  middle  of  the  room,  turned  a  pirouette,  then  struck  a 
position  and  commenced  to  sing,  "I'm  a  dandy  O,  Between  Bal- 
timore and  Buffalo."  I  said,  ''Alice  Gary,  if  you  don't  take  me 
out  of  here  I  shall  die  with  fright."  Mr.  Emerson  had  me  re- 
moved to  his  home,  but  I  was  nervous  as  long  as  I  stayed  on 
the  place.  When  we  got  back  to  Boston  I  said  to  Sister  Alice, 
"Let  us  go  west  to  Ohio.  I  want  to  get  away  from  all  these  evil 
spirits."  We  went  west  but  we  didn't  get  away  from  the  spir- 
its. I  became  controlled,  much  to  the  delight  of  Alice  and  our 
friends,  but  religion  had  such  a  hold  on  me  that  I  tried  to  fight 
them  off,  and  found  that  I  could  not  drive  them  away. 

They  say  my  best  poems  were  written  after  that  but  I  never 
truly  realized  my  position  until  I  came  to  spirit  life.  For  that 
superstitious  religion  had  such  a  hold  on  me  that  I  lived  in  such 
a  dread  of  hell  that  sometimes  I  really  was  afraid  to  go  to  sleep. 


PHOEBE  GARY  293 

They  held  so  many  revivals  in  our  neighborhood  and  sister  and 
I  attended  many  of  them,  which  kept  me  in  constant  fear.  A 
neighbor  family  of  ours  that  saw  my  condition  talked  to  Sister 
Alice  about  me,  so  much  so,  that  sister  persuaded  me  to  meet 
him.  I  did  so,  and  we  held  a  meeting  one  afternoon.  The  lady 
of  the  house  gave  us  such  a  beautiful  explanation  of  its  work- 
ings and  ways  in  the  beautiful  spirit  world  that  I  lost  a  great 
deal  of  my  fear,  but  could  not  give  up  my  saviour,  as  I  wanted 
to  be  on  the  right  side  in  case  there  was  some  mistake.  When 
I  passed  out  of  my  body  and  arrived  on  the  spirit  side  of  life 
no  personal  saviour  was  required,  born  of  a  supposed  virgin.  It 
was  our  own  deeds  and  works  that  saved  us  and  without  works 
of  love  and  charity  our  condition  was  rather  a  weak  one  on  the 
spirit  side  of  life.  But  oh,  friend,  how  beautiful  it  is  to  know  that 
each  individual  has  an  ideal  saviour  in  the  soul  that  leads  them 
to  truth  and  the  glorious  perfection  of  nature's  God. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  hope 
it  will  be  of  some  benefit  to  your  valuable  book.  I  leave  much 
love  for  Little  Justin  and  tell  him  his  antics  could  not  frighten 
me  now,  for  I  am  in  the  keeping  of  my  own  soul,  which  I  never 
understood  before  while  sitting  under  the  droppings  of  the  Lord 
or  I  should  say  under  the  explosions  of  those  gas  bags  called 
ministers  of  Christ  who  have  led  poor  humanity  for  many  years 
through  a  dream.  When  the  power  of  reason  has  awakened  you 
out  of  it  you  smile  a  smile  of  derision  at  the  empty  words  of  a 
pulpit  parrot  who  cannot  produce  any  evidence  whatever  of  im- 
mortality. It  is  only  through  the  servants  of  the  spirit  world 
called  sensitive  psychics  that  you  can  receive  any  proof  what- 
ever. It  was  a  glorious  day  when  the  tiny  raps  knocked  the 
bottom  out  of  hell  and  laid  the  man  made  God  on  the  shelf  and 
draped  truth  in  a  garment  of  love  which  the  spirit  world  is  con- 
stantly holding  out  to  mortals  in  physical  bodies,  saying,  "I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life.  Through  the  divinity  of  your  own 
manhood  and  womanhood  you  shall  find  salvation."  The  loving 
friend  of  all  progress.  Phoebe  Gary. 


Frances  E.  Willard 

Chapter  XXVII 


Friday,   September  6,   1901. 

Good  morning,  friend.  All  humanity  are  friends  because 
we  are  sisters  and  brothers,  children  of  the  perfect  God.  Oh, 
could  we  but  understand  the  love  that  is  showered  upon  us  by 
that  great  infinite  and  divine  love  from  our  heavenly  parents. 
Wisdom  is  ours  if  we  would  but  grasp  it.  The  benediction  of 
the  powers  of  life  are  beautiful  when  expressed  in  holy  love.  If 
only  the  dwellers  of  earth  would  understand  that  great  light  of 
intelligence  that  is  constantly  coming  en  rapport  with  them.  In 
it  they  would  find  that  all  knowledge  is  embellished  in  sunlight. 
If  the  great  outworkings  of  the  power  of  peace  that  constantly 
surround  us  were  only  properly  understood,  in  this  peace  they 
would  find  that  all  the  law  was  in  accord  with  human  nature  and 
that  the  children  of  God,  by  communion  in  their  souls,  would 
find  that  great  light  of  peace  from  the  hovel  to  the  palace.  It 
is  distributed  all  free  alike.  It  only  waits  for  the  asking  to 
bring  harmony  into  every  household,  so  that  they  may  know 
and  understand  that  none  of  this  great  power  is  locked  away 
from  them.  I,  Frances  E.  Willard,  found  joy  on  every  side 
where  I  sought  for  it.  I  saw  the  emblem  of  love  and  purity  in 
many  households  where  they  consecrated  their  lives  to  the  true 
God  of  reason.  Oh.  it  is  a  power  beyond  expression.  In  the 
teachings  of  Christ  it  is  fully  verified.  A  great  morality  was 
the  outgrowth  of  that  beautiful  mind.  It  reached  out  and  grasped 
the  law  of  truth  and  wisdom.  The  whole  living  embodiment  was 
impregnated  with  tjie  law  of  reason.  It  developed  it  within  its 
innate  power  and  then  gave  it  to  the  human  heart  that  was  ask- 
ing for  the  true  way  that  leadeth  to  God. 

When   I   came   to  spirit  life  after  passing  through   the   new 


FRANCES  E.  WILLARD  295 

birth  I  did  not  find  the  man,  Jesus,  waiting  for  me,  but  I  found 
the  law  of  reason  was  distributed  on  every  hand.  I  found  a  con- 
dition that  was  located  in  my  soul.  It  spoke  and  said,  "Frances, 
you  must  be  your  own  Saviour."  The  law  and  the  word  was 
given  by  an  intelligent  mind  that  had  much  of  the  divinity  of 
nature  in  it.  Through  its  advanced  teachings  came  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  world.  In  all  lands  and  nations  was  heard  the  voice 
crying,  "He  that  believeth  in  me  shall  have  eternal  life."  Re- 
ligion amounts  to  nothing  if  God  dwelleth  not  in  your  heart. 
There  are  many  religions  and  beliefs  in  the  universe.  They  are 
all  a  mockery  if  you  have  not  the  love  and  friendship  for  your 
fellow  beings.  You  must  search  and  find  the  divinity  that  has 
been  created  in  your  soul,  that  is  God,  the  torch  bearer  of  the 
light  and  truth  through  all  ages.  Religion  is  a  wreak  babe  with 
its  swaddling  bands  still  upon  it,  if  it  has  not  the  light  of  reason 
embodied  in  it.  Man  cannot  save  man.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of 
your  works  and  the  unfoldment  of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  your 
nature.  \Yhen  that  is  once  properly  understood,  then  you  be- 
come your  own  saviour.  See  that  you  love  one  another,  is  the 
law  and  the  power  that  should  govern  the  whole  human  race. 
There  is  no  religion  higher  than  truth.  \\hen  I  came  to  the 
spirit  side  of  life  I  was  surprised  to  find  credulous  minds  sitting 
moping  and  waiting,  wringing  their  hands  in  agony  and  crying 
out  for  a  man  made  God.  Christ  was  not  with  them  then.  It  had 
taken  wings  for  a  time  until  the  law  of  reason  could  enter  their 
souls  and  the  power  that  laid  dormant  within  them  would 
awaken  the  true  God  in  their  natures  ,  then  they  would  find  it 
was  only  the  higher  growth  of  Spiritualism  that  would  manifest 
to  them  that  the  true  Saviour  laid  in  their  own  natures.  They 
must  throw  to  the  wind  the  man  made  God  that  history  had 
given  the  name  of  Jesus.  They  must  find  the  true  spirit  of  Christ 
within  them  that  is  constantly  unfolding  the  higher  growth  of 
God  in  nature.  All  life  is  a  panorama  with  moving  shadows  and 
figures  in  it  and  each  one  has  a  part  to  play.  Sonic  are  star  act- 
ors, while  others  were  only  supernumeraries.  It  is  accord- 
ing to  the  development  of  God  within  them.  This  saying  that  is 
common  in  our  nation,  "I  am  a  Catholic."  "I  am  an  Episcopa- 
lian." "I  am  a  Presbyterian."  "I  am  a  Methodist."  "I  am  a  C»n- 
gregationalist,"  "I  am  a  Swedenborgian,"  "I  belong  to  the  Chris- 


296         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

tian  church,"  "I  am  in  fellowship  with  the  Dutch  Reform,"  "I 
belong  to  the  Lutheran  Church,"  "Our  family  is  Congregation- 
alist,"  "We  are  Unitarians,"  "Universalism  is  our  belief,"  "I  am 
a  Jew  and  believe  in  the  orthodox  church  of  Judaism" — all  these 
and  others  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  versatility  that  is  located 
in  the  mind.  They  are  all  man  made  religions,  with  a  variety  of 
customs  and  ideas.  If  they  have  not  the  true  spirit  of  Christ 
that  abideth  in  all  pure  souls,  then  religion  is  an  abhorrance  in 
the  sight  of  the  true  universal  life  and  principle  of  God.  It  is 
like  a  piece  of  dead  material  that  a  decaying  body  is  carrying 
around  and  the  sooner  they  learn  to  understand  the  law  of.  re- 
embodiment  the  sooner  they  will  find  a  saviour  through  the 
power  of  evolution.  The  biological  growth  in  nature  is  a  cul- 
mination of  all  natural  conditions;  without  these  laws  chaos 
would  reign  and  everything  would  be  swept  into  oblivion. 

Xow  let  the  light  of  truth  shine  forth  from  every  eye,  that 
it  may  lead  them  in  the  true  path  to  God.  When  I  lived  in  the 
body,  I  mean  an  earth  tenement,  I  loved  to  work  in  the  \Yomans' 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  there  were  many  other  works 
that  I  was  interested  in.  which  kept  my  mind  occupied  and 
brought  me  happiness  in  spirit.  Oh,  sir,  the  revealment  of  the 
true  life  that  laid  before  me  was  sometimes  a  little  hard  and 
there  were  rough  parts  in  it,  but  above  and  beyond  was  the 
kindness  of  God  that  was  teaching  me  to  lead  others  over  these 
rough  spots  and  to  teach  them  that  in  the  great  beyond  was 
eternal  life  and  happiness  awaiting  us  all  through  the  perfection 
of  the  spirit.  We  will  defer  the  communication  until  another 
day. 

September  9.  Xow,  sir,  as  we  are  alone  and  hope  nothing 
will  disturb  us  I  will  continue  my  communication.  It  will  not 
be  a  long  one,  but  rather  on  the  short  order.  First  let  me  say, 
I  think  you  have  some  of  the  most  beautiful  mornings  I  ever 
saw.  Oh.  how  I  could  have  wielded  the  pen  in  this  mountain 
retreat,  but  my  work  was  otherwise  laid  out.  It  was  in  the  city 
where  I  could  assist  and  help  others.  I  loved  all  the  work  that 
I  was  connected  with,  especially  the  \\  omans'  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union — my  whole  soul  went  out  to  that.  I  think  liquor 
that  has  been  manufactured  in  any  shape  or  form  whatever  is 
the  great  curse  of  the  world  ;  it  brings  out  the  brutality  of  both 


FRANCES  E.  WILLARD  297 

men  and  women.  Children  inherit  the  love  for  liquor,  which 
makes  of  them  great  criminals.  It  either  leads  them  to  the  gallows 
or  to  state's  prison  for  life.  It  has  all  the  tendency  to  bring 
those  that  are  afflicted  with  its  curse  down  to  death  through 
shame  and  misery.  Oh,  that  I  had  the  power  to  wipe  out  that 
terrible  curse  from  the  human  race.  If  men  and  women  only 
knew  the  punishment  that  was  awaiting  them  fon  this  side  of 
life  for  selling  liquor  to  the  human  race.  They  are  responsible 
for  the  curse  they  have  brought  upon  the  children  of  God.  Oh, 
if  God's  children  could  only  come  into  the  world  with  perfect 
knowledge  they  could  resist  all  such  temptations,  but  the  expe- 
rience of  the  human  race  is  an  education  that  they  must  all  pass 
through.  Some  are  tempted  and  fall  while  they  are  attending 
a  school  and  preparing  themselves  for  a  higher  knowledge  that 
will  guard  and  protect  them  through  the  walks  of  life.  The  only 
perfection  that  I  can  see  that  awaits  the  human  family  is  the 
great  power  of  re-embodiment,  through  which  they  can  work 
out  the  la\vs  of  God  and  come  to  a  perfect  understanding  and 
the  unfoldment  of  their  higher  nature,  but  woe  be  unto  them  that 
set  snares  for  their  fellow-beings.  It  will  be  a  long  while  be- 
fore they  understand  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand.  The  con- 
science of  the  seducer  and  the  slayer  of  morality  is  a  terrible 
punishment  that  awaits  the  wrong-doer.  Those  that  love  God 
and  the  human  race  and  try  to  upbuild  the  mind  located  in  the 
souls  of  men  and  women,  the  blessing  that  awaits  them  is  grand 
in  spirit  life.  The  master  who  holds  the  key  to  all  life  pronounces 
a  benediction  through  which  they  receive  the  eternal  baptism  for 
all  time  to  come.  When  people  speak  of  God  being  in  his  holy 
temple  it  means  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  in  all  homes  and  every 
heart  is  made  happy  that  will  receive  the  inspiration  of  this  beau- 
tiful light  to  the  human  race. 

I  thank  you.  sir.  for  taking  down  my  communication,  and 
it"  it  will  be  of  anv  value  to  your  valuable  book,  you  are  wel- 
come to  it. 

1  conic  here  at  the  request  of  a  beautiful  spirit  who  bore 
the  name  of  Lola  Monte/..  She  was  a  woman  but  seldom  under- 
stood by  the  people  of  earth,  but  on  our  side  she  is  a  grand 
spirit  and  teacher.  Her  soul  goes  out  to  all  the  human  race  and 
love  is  her  whole  nature.  Good  dav.  sir.  Frances  E.  Willard. 


Harriet  Hosmer  Chamberlain 

Chapter  XXVIII 


Friday.  October  18,  1901. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother  Hulburd.  I  asked  per- 
mission to  come  and  speak  a  few  words  before  the  lamp  burns 
out  of  this  physical  body.  Others  were  asked  to  come  and  give 
a  communication  as  a  favor  for  your  book,  but  I  begged  per- 
mission to  do  so.  I  have  been  humbled  and  brought  down  from 
my  exalted  position.  My  overbearing  and  positive  will  has  been 
humbled  and  I  have  been  brought  to  the  feet  of  high  spiritual 
souls.  They  have  taught  me  the  recognition  of  a  submissive 
condition  in  Spirituality.  Oh  life,  thou  art  the  shifting  sands 
of  time  and  my  life  has  been  part  of  those  shifting  sands.  "When 
they  sang  to  lull  me  to  rest  it  was  only  a  mockery  filled  with 
conceit.  Oh  that  dream,  that  dream  of  grandeur  that  some  day 
I  should  awake  out  of  and  find  myself  in  rags  and  tatters.  "When 
I  was  young  and  vigorous  I  looked  upon  myself  as  a  perfect 
vase,  fashioned  and  formed  to  hold  the  increase  of  men's  adora- 
tion, but  alas,  one  day  I  woke  up  to  find  I  was  only  an  old 
cracked  vessel  and  could  not  hold  the  lethean  waters  of  common 
sense,  wherein  my  own  heart  could  bathe  and  find  blissful  re- 
pose that  I  might  go  to  sleep  and  be  carried  on  the  waves  of 
time.  The  castle  that  I  had  built  up  was  shattered  and  I  was 
left  an  old  wreck  upon  its  ruins,  a  cracked  vase  that  was  worth- 
less. My  indomitable  will  carried  me  through  it  all  until  my 
old  body  was  laid  away  from  the  gaze  of  mv  friends  and  ene- 
mies— the  latter,  alas,  were  man}'.  The  world  was  cold  to  me 
and  I  was  cold  to  the  world,  a  Floating  wreck  of  humanity. 

( )ver  ninety  years  ago  I  was  born  in  the  village  of  Buffalo, 
now  called  the  city  of  Buffalo.  When  about  lour  years  old  the 
Indians  attacked  the  village  and  burned  and  pillaged  it.  I  was 


HARRIET  HOSMER  CHAMBERLAIN  299 

carried  off  by  an  old  chief  of  one  of  the  tribes.  He  bore  the  name 
of  Eagle  Eye,  chief  of  the  Tonawanda  tribe.  My  father  had 
been  a  friend  to  him  and  he  carried  me  off  to  save  my  life.  After 
things  had  been  settled  by  the  military  he  brought  me  back  to 
my  father  safe  and  sound,  for  which  my  father  always  felt  grate- 
ful, but  alas,  I  wished  many  times  that  I  had  perished  with  the 
rest.  I  seemed  to  be  one  of  those  beings  that  was  ushered  into 
the  world  for  many  trials,  for  my  soul  was  grieved  to  its  full 
extent.  My  mother  died  while  I  was  a  babe  and  left  me  to  a 
father  whom  I  never  loved  and  to  the  mercies  of  a  cruel  step- 
mother who  never  loved  me.  It  could  not  be  otherwise,  for  I 
had  a  willful  nature  and  expected  my  own  way  in  everything. 
As  I  grew  older  I  became  even  more  tyrannical  and  demanded 
my  rights  in  everything.  I  felt  no  one  loved  me  or  cared  for  me. 
At  some  times  the  world  looked  cold  and  drear  to  me.  My 
father  married  me  to  a  man  while  I  was  yet  but  a  mere  child. 
I  grew  in  time  to  hate  the  man.'  He  forced  maternity  upon  me 
a  number  of  times.  I  hated  every  child  that  I  carried  in  my 
womb  and  would  have  destroyed  them  before  they  were  born, 
but  there  were  always  watchers,  and  I  was  prevented  from  car- 
rying out  a  crime.  Those  children  grew  into  manhood  to  hate 
and  despise  their  mother.  There  was  no  love  lost,  for  I  hated 
them  also.  "\Yhen  the  oldest  became  a  man  he  tried  to  rob  me 
of  all  that  was  left  me.  He  swore  in  court  that  1  was  a  vile 
woman,  not  competent  to  care  for  my  property,  or  put  it  to  a 
judicious  use.  He  did  not  gain  his  point  and  I  banished  him 
from  my  sight  with  a  curse.  The  next  became  a  maniac  and 
died  in  the  madhouse.  I  sat  outside  of  his  cell  night  after  night, 
listening  to  his  mad  ravings.  I  cursed  myself  to  think  I  had 
ever  been  his  mother  and  cursed  the  parents  that  gave  me  life, 
as  I  thought  then.  Another  one  became  a  terrible  hypocrite 
and  almost  swamped  me  for  all  I  owned.  lie  had  no  business 
qualities  and  fawned  around  me  in  his  serpent  like  way  so  that 
1  might  provide  him  with  money  in  order  that  he  might  try  it 
all  over  again. 

\\hen  the  rebellion  broke  out  between  the  North  and  the 
South — I  was  a  woman  then  in  age  and  I  also  thought  in  dis- 
cretion—  I  had  a  cousin  who  was  an  Episcopalian  minister.  He 
professed  that  his  heart  loved  me.  1  was  glad  to  know  after- 


300         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

wards  that  it  was  not  his  soul,  only  his  heart — hearts  are  easily 
numbed,  you  know.  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  go  down  to  the 
army  and  nurse  the  wounded  soldiers.  I  thought  at  least  I  could 
do  that  much  for  my  country,  as  they  would  not  allow  a  woman 
to  enlist  and  carry  a  gun  like  her  brother  soldiers.  Before  I  de- 
parted for  my  duties  I  gave  in  to  the  keeping  of  this  Episcopa- 
lian clergyman  a  large  library  of  books  which  I  told  him  he  must 
return  to  me  when  the  war  was  over,  providing  we  did  not 
marry  each  other. 

I  started  on  my  journey  and  arrived  in  \Yashington.  Tli2 
second  day  I  was  there  I  was  introduced  to  Miss  Dorothy  Dix, 
a  noble  hearted  woman  who  gave  me  a  position  under  her  in 
the  same  hospital  where  I  might  display  my  skill  in  attending 
the  wounded  soldiers.  After  I  had  been  there  several  months 
she  came  to  me  and  said,  ''I  think  thee  is  well  fitted  to  take 
charge  of  a  hospital.  Now  I  will  send  thee  to  Baltimore,  where 
thee  will  have  full  charge  of  the  hospital."  I  thanked  her  for 
her  confidence  in  me  and  my  ability.  I  went  on  my  journey,  ar- 
rived in  the  afternoon,  took  up  my  position  in  the  Baltimore 
Hospital,  which  I  found  to  be  one  of  the  most  filthy  dens  that  I 
ever  looked  upon.  I  gave  the  order  for  an  abundance  of  hot 
water  to  be  gotten  ready  as  quickly  as  possible.  Then  a  kind 
officer  assisted  me  in  my  duties  by  detailing  men  to  carry  the 
sick  from  one  room  to  another.  Then  I  gave  orders  for  the  men 
to  use  hot  water  in  abundance  on  the  ceiling,  wall  and  floor,  to 
clean  out  the  vermin  and  cockroaches  that  infested  the  different 
rooms.  I  had  chloride  of  lime  placed  around  the  baseboard, 
burned  sulphur  in  pans  to  fumigate  the  rooms.  After  I  had  the 
rooms  all  cleansed  and  aired  properly  I  had  the  men  brought 
back  and  made  comfortable,  as  they  were  human  beings,  for 
which  I  received  many  thanks  from  the  brave  boys.  I  knew 
they  had  mothers,  sisters,  fathers  and  brothers,  and  devoted  my 
spare  time  in  writing  letters  home  to  their  people.  Oh.  Mr.  Hul- 
bnrd,  but  that  was  a  sunny  spot  in  my  life.  Those  were  happy 
davs  for  me  when  I  felt  I  was  serving  my  country  as  a  nurse 
and  sister  to  our  brave  boys,  bless  their  hearts.  I  found  many 
noble  men  among  them.  After  about  six  months  my  health 
commenced  to  fail  me  in  Baltimore,  as  the  drain  pipes  of  the 
hospital  were  verv  bad.  They  were  old  and  rusty  and  leaked  in 


HARRIET  HOSMER  CHAMBERLAIN  301 

« 

many  places.  I  was  accustomed  to  the  clear,  bracing  atmosphere 
of  Buffalo.  We  had  some  of  the  worst  doctors  in  the  army  hos- 
pitals that  I  ever  met.  I  made  an  exchange,  going  to  Alexan- 
dria, Virginia,  which  was  very  beneficial  to  my  health.  While 
there  I  met  Mr.  Warren,  the  husband  of  Little  Justin,  who  was 
supposed  to  be  his  father.  I  saw  Little  Justin  on  two  different 
occasions,  but  never  had  the  pleasure  of  speaking  to  him.  That 
is,  I  saw  him  in  boys'  clothes,  when  he  came  from  Washington 
to  visit  Mr.  Warren. 

One  day  when  I  was  visiting  Mr.  Warren's  quarters  a  mule 
came  up  with  a  little  old  gray-haired  woman  sitting  on  it  chew- 
ing snuff,  I  thought.  She  looked  at  me  and  said,  "Howdy,  mam," 
with  a  strong  southern  accent.  I  said,  "Where  did  you  come 
from,  my  good  woman?"  She  said,  "Yout  yonder,"  pointing 
with  her  hand,  which  might  have  meant  any  part  of  Virginia. 
"I'm  an  old  lame  critter  come  a  right  smart  distance  to  see  this 
yar  hossifer  about  protectin'  my  gal  Sal  and  two  calves  that's 
left  yet."  I  said,  "And  don't  you  need  protection,  too?"  She 
said,  "I'se  old  baggage  that  hain't  goiiv  to  live  long."  By  this 
time  Mr.  Warren  stepped  up  and  said,  "My  good  lady,  what  can 
I  do  for  you?"  She  said,  "I  reckon  it  hain't  much,  Mr.  Hofficer, 
can't  you  help  an  old  bodv  down  off  this  yar  mule?  I  ain't  had 
a  good  lookin'  man  touch  me  in  some  time.  I'se  all  crippled  up 
with  the  rheumatiz  and  I  cotched  the  misery  in  the  back  comin' 
along  that  yar  road  beyont."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "I  guess,  Madam, 
I  can  assist  you  in  getting  down.  Just  imagine  I  am  your  son 
and  lean  with  all  your  weight  on  me."  I  noticed  as  he  took  her 
down  off  the  mule  their  lips  met  and  I  said,  "God  bless  him.  he 
has  the  feeling  of  a  natural  son."  She  was  a  little  body  and  he 
carried  her  into  his  quarters.  I  turned  around  and  said  to  Major 
Armstrong,  while  the  tears  were  in  my  eyes.  "That  officer  is  a 
soldier  and  a  gentleman.  Did  you  see  how  carefully  he  carried 
that  old  woman  and  placed  her  in  a  camp  chair?  While  he  did 
so  his  eyes  were  lit  up  like  that  of  a  lover.  I  am  so  glad. 
.Major  Armstrong,  that  there  are  men  in  the  world  that  have 
feeling  lor  old  women. "  I  bade  Mr.  Warren  good  dav  while  Mr. 
Armstrong  bore  me  company  to  the  hospital,  \\hile  we  were 
walking  on  the  wav  I  said.  "Major,  what  a  litile  old  woman  that 
was  to  come  so  lar  alone  on  that  old  mule.  1  hope  Mr.  Warren 


302 

will  be  able  to  do  something  for  her,  she  seemed  so  little  and 
frail  as  if  the  wind  would  blow  her  away."  He  said,  "Mrs.  Cham- 
berlain, officer  Warren  has  a  kind  heart  and  he  will  see  to  it. 
He  is  always  assisting  some  one."  I  said,  "Thank  God,"  and 
bade  him  good  bye  at  the  hospital  door.  Little  did  I  think  then, 
brother  Hulburd,  that  that  was  our  Little  Justin  masquerading 
as  the  old  woman. 

That  very  night  orders  were  given  to  prepare  for  a  battle 
on  the  coming  morning  at  daybreak.  I  received  orders  to  have 
the  nurses  in  readiness  and  everything  in  order  to  receive  the 
wounded.  Little  did  I  think  then  that  that  little  old  woman 
was  the  bearer  of  dispatches  through  which  the  battle  took 
place.  I  have  only  been  informed  of  it  by  Mr.  \Yarren  since  I 
came  to  the  spirit  side  of  life.  Xow  I  understand  he  was  a  Union 
spy  and  when  the  old  woman's  lips  and  Mr.  Warren's  met  to- 
gether it  was  a  love  kiss  in  reality ;  the  big  husband  kissing  his 
little  wife.  Oh,  but  he  played  it  well.  Xo  wonder  she  had  such 
conception  of  character  on  the  stage.  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Hul- 
burd, I  should  have  been  an  actress.  I  am  just  conceited  enough 
to  think  I  would  have  been  a  success,  but  you  know  what  public 
opinion  was  those  days  toward  a  woman  who  entered  that  pro- 
fession and  as  I  look  at  it  now,  when  I  did  not  adopt  the  stage 
for  a  profession  I  should  have  entered  the  field  lor  woman's  suf- 
frage, but  oh,  that  false  pride  that  held  me  back.  I  am  glad  that 
I  have  been  humbled  and  some  of  the  conceit  taken  out  of  me. 
As  I  now  stand  I  find  I  am  only  a  poor  woman  depending  upon 
others  for  assistance  that  will  lead  me  to  the  light  of  truth.  I 
find  I  am  disrobed  of  that  garment  of  personality  that  held  me 
back  from  spiritual  growth.  I  am  now  a  naked  spirit  grovelling 
in  ignorance.  I  have  onlv  a  borrowed  mantle  to  cover  mv  naked- 
ness until  my  soul's  growth  will  knock  at  the  door  of  reason  and 
ask  to  be  permitted  to  drape  myself  in  conscious  wisdom.  Oh, 
brother  Hulburd,  it  is  over  here  where  shams  are  exposed  and 
you  stand  only  on  your  own  merits.  Deeds  and  works  tell  here. 
All  flippant  foppery  and  show  pass  away  from  you  and  you 
stand  alone  to  answer  for  that  which  is  wrong  and  that  which  is 
right. 

When  the  war  was  over  and  1  had  returned  home  I  was  in- 
formed bv  a  friend  that  mv  cousin  had  married  another  woman. 


HARRIET  HOSMER  CHAMBERLAIN  303 

Then  I  demanded  that  he  should  send  me  back  my  library  of 
books.  He  informed  me  he  would  not.  do  so  and  said  I  had  made 
him  a  present  of  them.  I  went  and  interviewed  a  lawyer  con- 
cerning the  matter.  He  informed  me  that  my  cousin  had  the 
books  in  his  possession  and  that  was  nine  points  in  law.  He 
said  that  I  could  sue  for  the  recovery  of  the  books  and  bring  the 
case  into  court ;  he  would  do  what  he  possibly  could  for  me.  but 
he  did  not  think  1  would  recover  them,  as  I  would  have  to  prove 
that  I  did  not  make  him  a  present  of  the  books.  He  said,  "You 
know — if  you  don't  you  ought  to  know — that  many  of  our  min- 
isters, so-called  servants  of  God.  are  tricky  individuals  and  would 
not  hesitate  at  any  time  to  swear -to  a  lie."  So  you  see  I  was  a 
weak  woman.  I  gave  my  books  into  this  man's  keeping  and 
lost  them,  like  many  other  things  that  have  been  given  into  a 
minister's  keeping.  Many  of  my  friends  called  me  cold  and  bit- 
ter towards  the  human  race.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  bro- 
ther Hulburd,  when  I  was  robbed  on  every  side  and  slandered 
by  those  who  did  not  understand  me?  I  was  not  only  robbed 
by  strangers,  but  my  own  children  did  the  same.  I  find  here  in 
spirit  life  that  kinship  and  other  family  ties  amount  to  nothing, 
if  we  are  not  drawn  to  each  other  by  soul  love  we  become  as 
strangers  to  each  other.  Spirits  that  I  once  looked  upon  as  my 
children  pass  me  coldly  by,  while  strangers,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
come  towards  me  with  their  whole  nature  of  love  and  charity. 
They  cover  my  nakedness  with  their  mantle  of  spiritual  growth. 
Here  is  where  the  conscience  of  hell  attacks  us  and  we  must 
work  out  our  condition  through  our  own  responsibility.  Truth 
and  the  helping  hand  of  those  beautiful  spirits  that  approach  me 
are  ever  ready  to  help  me  on  to  that  higher  divinity  in  life  where 
I  can  clothe  mvself  with  the  law  of  wisdom  and  become  ever 
ready  to  help  those  that  were  like  unto  myself.  (  Hi.  it  is  a  glo- 
rious thought  to  know  that  we  can  become  like  the  rising  sun 
and  shine  for  all  time  to  come.  1  often  think  about  the  happy 
circles  that  were  held  in  vour  home,  with  yourself.  Fred  and 
Little  Justin,  and  others  in  attendance  and  when  that  working 
spirit,  I  Bridget  Kelly,  would  bring  those  low.  undeveloped  spirits 
to  control  Justin's  brain  forces,  tell  their  unhappv  tale  and  re- 
ceive assistance.  Those  were  sunnv  spots  in  mv  life.  I  always 
felt  happy  when  1  returned  home  and  thought  how  good  the  (.ml 


304         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

of  nature  was  to  give  us  all  a  chance  to  redeem  ourselves  by  our 
work  of  love  and  charity  to  each  other.  I  realize  it  all  now  in 
spirit  life. 

I  am  sorry  to  know  that  Little  Justin  has  lost  his  home.  He 
was  too  free  putting  his  name  to  other  people's  paper.  It  was 
cruel  in  his  old  age  to  get  him  to  sign  that  mortgage.  If  I  had 
been  in  the  body  and  close  by  I  would  have  prevailed  upon  him 
not  to  have  committed  that  error,  but  he  has  always  been  the 
child  of  circumstances  and  those  that  wronged  him  must  pay 
the  penalty;  they  cannot  escape  it.  When  in  the  body  I  was 
strongly  attracted  to  Little  Justin.  YYe  compared  notes  many 
a  time.  I  was  always  happy  and  pleased  when  he  would  make 
me  a  visit  and  I  had  a  chance  to  look  upon  his  sunny  face. 
Sometimes  when  I  was  downhearted  and  felt  the  world  was  cold 
and  drear  he  would  cheer  me  up  by  telling  some  funny  anecdote 
which  in  time  would  get  me  to  laughing.  After  he  had  left  for 
his  home  I  would  think,  at  least  there  is  some  one  in  the  world 
who  has  a  kind  thought  for  me,  and  when  I  would  think  it  all 
over  I  would  say  to  myself,  "There  are  three  friends  that  have 
kind  thoughts  for  me.  They  are  Fred,  \Yallace  and  Justin,  and 
they  are  always  pleased  to  see  me.  They  always  show  it  by  the 
warm  welcome  they  give  me,"  and  oh,  how  I  always  longed  for 
the  circle  night  to  come  around.  I  know  now  that  many  of  the 
lectures  that  Justin  gave  were  only  understood  by  a  few.  He 
taught  us  that  we  could  live  our  lives  not  only  through  re-em- 
bodiment, but  through  other  individuals  living  in  physical  bod- 
ies, which  I  know  to  be  a  truth. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  hope 
I  will  be  able  to  bless  you  all  for  the  many  kindnesses  you 
showed  to  me  while  in  the  body.  Give  my  love  to  any  one  that 
would  like  to  hear  from  me.  Xow  I  leave  my  love  to  you  all, 
a  large  share  of  it  going  to  Little  Justin,  whose  weary  bod}-  is 
hard  to  carry  around  now.  Your  loving  sister  in  the  grand 
cause  of  spiritual  philosophy,  Harriet  Hosmer  Chamberlain,  a 
much  misunderstood  woman  who  had  to  wear  a  cheerful  mask 
before  the  people  when  her  heart  was  breaking  for  that  real  ten- 
der love  of  an  honorable  husband  and  protector  which  was  never 
gratified  in  the  physical  body,  but  all  will  be  healed  here  in  spirit 
life  some  day  when  I  will  be  judged  by  the  judge  of  my  own 


HARRIET  HOSMER  CHAMBERLAIN  305 

actions.  I  thank  you  again,  Wallace  Hulburd.  I  loved  you  and 
you  did  not  understand  it.  My  soul  went  out  crying  to  you,  but 
it  only  met  a  cold  wave.  You  were  selected  for  this  work  and 
will  pass  your  while  in  harness.  Kiss  Little  Justin  for  me  with 
a  kiss  of  a  sister's  love.  One  that  comes  from  the  higher  growth 
of  what  soul  action  I  command.  Good  dav. 


November  20,  1899. 

Mrs.  Cora  Richmond  the  spiritual  lecturer  sublime, 

All  her  thoughts  are  emanations  divine, 

As  her  aspirations  go  out  to  human  kind. 

Such  an  outgrowth  of  spirit  life  you  rarely  find. 

As  the  words  of  wisdom  come  from  her  lips, 
The  people  hold  on  to  them  with  tight  grips 
And  many  of  them  heaven's  everlasting  life  sip 
"While  others  of  crude  minds  let  them  pass  and  flip. 

As  one  Sunday  in  a  front  seat  I  had  chanced 

To  listen  to  inspiration  that  came  from  those  lips  entranced, 

Then  my  whole  soul  with  pleasure  danced, 

\Yhen   I   went  home   I  became  entranced. 

Her  whole  nature  seemed  enthused  with  spiritual  life, 
And  Richmond  might  thank  the  spirits  for  such  a  wife 
For  such  now  he  can  call  her  by  right, 
Since  their  home  must  be  a  heaven  of  spiritual  light. 

This  lady  to  her  friends  must  be  very  dear. 

She  lives  in   such  a  spiritual   atmosphere, 

Her  presence  thev  must  always  wish  to  be  near. 

She  gives  them  such  words  of  love  from  spirit  sphere. 

It  is  such  a  heavenlv  treat 

At  some  of  her  receptions  to  meet, 

And   the   kindly   spirits   greet. 

Some  of  their  spirit  names  are  sweet. 


306         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

I  wish  we  had  many  like  her  in  our  land, 
For  God  and  the  angels  her  heart  doth  understand. 
As  her  ministrations  come  from  an  educated  band, 
They  have  converted  many  in  Europe  and  in  our  land. 

"When  her  gentle  form  is  laid  away 

Man}-  will  remember  her  words  when  their  hair  is  gray. 
And  often  feel  to  her  spirit  they  would  like  to  pray, 
As  her  teachings  do  express  themselves  every  day. 

\Ye  know  she  will  have  her  reward  for  that  will  be  right, 
Where  she  will  become  a  heavenly  angel  bright. 
And  come  back  to  throw  on  some  person  her  mantle  of  light, 
For  I  know  she  will  feel  for  the  work  to  go  on  right. 

As  I  speak  of  this  distinguished  lady  rare, 
Perhaps  my  words  are  too  crude  to  express  them  fair, 
If  they  are  uncultured  I  hope  my  blushes  she  will  spare, 
As  they  come  to  my  soul  from  inspiration  in  the  air. 


General  Robert  E.  Lee 

Chapter   XXIX 


Tuesday.  November   11,   1902. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  I  see  your  parched 
earth  has  been  moistened  and  it  must  be  a  welcome  sight  to 
your  eyes.  I  come  here  this  morning  not  of  my  own  free  well, 
but  as  you  know,  the  majority  in  all  cases  rules.  I,  being  in  the 
minority,  had  to  submit  to  their  condition. 

I  was  accosted  by  a  number  of  spirits  calling  themselves  the 
spirit  band  of  this  medium  :  they  addressed  me.  saying,  "Mr. 
Lee.  it  is  our  desire  that  you  should  give  a  communication  to 
the  world;  in  that  communication  it  is  also  our  desire  that  you 
shall  express  yourself  in  a  manner  whereby  you  will  be  fully 
understood  by  the  public  at  large.  You  shall  give  a  communi- 
cation speaking  and  relating  to  the  condition  of  experience  you 
had  with  our  little  medium  during  the  rebellion  in  which  you 
took  part,  going  with  your  state  and  seceding  from  the  I  nion." 
I  told  them  I  had  no  desire  to  do  anything  of  the  kind.  They 
said.  "You  shall  do  it."  I  said.  "By  whose  command  shall  I 
do  this  which  you  speak  of?"  They  said.  "By  the  command  of 
the  people  in  spirit  lite  and  we  are  the  people."  A  man,  who 
once  lived  in  a  physical  body,  and  bore  the  name  of  L".  S.  Grant, 
said  in  a  quiet  wav,  "Robert,  mv  boy.  submit  to  the  conditions 
or  we  will  compel  you  to  do  so."  I  ^aid,  "Must  1  submit  to  you 
here  in  spirit  liter  I  submitted  to  you  in  earth  life:  have  we  not 
settled  that  quarrel  yet?"  lie  said.  "( )h  yes,  brother  Robert,  we 
are  taking  upon  us  now  a  higher  degree  in  life,  we  arc  all  com- 
pelled, brother,  to  submit  to  fate  and  the  law  of  Evolution.  You 
know  as  well  as  I  do  we  cannot  stop  the  wheel  of  Progression: 
it  never  revolves  backward,  but  constantlv  forward.  It  is  our 
desire  that  you  accompanv  us  to  Searchlight  Home,  where  vo;i 
will  find  a  little  medium  that  you  have  met  before:  the  guides 
will  attach  vour  forces  to  the  medium's  force<  and  there.  bn>- 


308         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

ther  Robert,  you  will  make  the  discovery  that  you  can  com- 
municate your  thoughts  through  the  organ  and  lips  of  that  lit- 
tle medium."  I  also  made  the  discovery  right  then  and  there 
that  there  was  no  way  of  escaping  from  the  condition  they  had 
placed  upon  me.  So  you  see,  brother,  here  I  am — compelled  to 
give  my  mite  towards  the  life  and  experience  of  this  miserable 
little  creature.  Perhaps  you  do  not  think  it  is  gentlemanly  to 
express  myself  in  such  a  way,  but  he  was  a  miserable  creature 
to  me  and  to  our  lost  cause.  He  was  the  most  daring  spy  that 
I  ever  heard  of  or  that  the  world  has  any  history  of.  When  he 
came  to  my  quarters  he  looked  like  an  innocent  child  that  would 
not  hurt  an  insect.  He  would  place  himself  in  the  way  of  the 
soldiers  in  order  to  be  brought  to  headquarters,  and  at  other 
times  he'd  walk  right  into  the  headquarters  of  the  leading  offi- 
cers in  the  location  where  he  was  at  the  time.  He'd  play  such  an 
innocent  part  he  would  beguile  them  by  his  fascinating  eyes 
and  after  that  he'd  bring  his  singing  and  dancing  into  play, 
which  would  amuse  the  officers  much. 

Jefferson  Davis  in  his  communication  gave  you  an  expres- 
sion of  what  I  related  to  him  at  my  headquarters  in  connection 
with  this  creature.  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  visionary  man  and  a 
dreamer.  He  dreamed  of  position,  power  and  wealth  and  it  all 
dissolved  in  a  dream  by  the  downfall  of  the  confederacy,  or  the 
''Lost  Cause,"  but  brother,  the  wheel  of  fates  was  turning  and 
there  was  no  cause  in  nature  to  compel  it  to  reverse  its  action; 
the  black  race  had  to  become  free  and  I  warn  the  people  of  the 
south  to  desist  from  their  persecution  of  the  black  race  or  woe 
betide  them,  they  are  becoming  educated  and  will  reach  to  a 
high  civilization  in  life.  There  will  be  a  child  born;  he  will  be 
of  dark  complexion,  and  yet  white  blood  will  course  through  his 
veins.  His  father  will  be  a  negro  while  his  mother  will  be  a 
white  woman,  the  daughter  of  a  southern  family.  She  will  teach 
that  child,  "Rachel  has  wept  long  for  her  children.''  He  will 
become  highlv  educated  and  a  leader  of  the  black  race,  lie  will 
teach  them  to  turn  and  revenge  themselves  upon  the  while  race. 
He  will  teach  them  how  to  sting  the  white  man  with  the  venom 
of  a  cobra.  He  will  say  to  them,  "To  your  tents,  oh.  Children  of 
Israel,  for  (",od  hath  said.  'Vengeance  is  mine'  and  he  hath  placed 
it  in  our  power  to  avenge  ourselves  upon  the  children  of  those 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  309 

people  who  held  our  ancestors  in  bondage,"  for  you  know  it  is 
said,  "The  sins  of  the  parents  will  be  visited  upon  their  children 
unto  the  third  and  the  fourth  generation."  I,  Robert  E.  Lee, 
say,  let  the  white  people  of  the  South  beware  how  they  treat 
the  children  of  black  Rachel;  their  voices  are  crying  to  God  to 
save  them  from  the  persecution  of  the  white  man  and  you  know 
every  day  is  a  Judgment  day  and  that  judgment  will  fall  upon 
the  people  of  the  south.  Perhaps  you  think  it  is  strange  why  I 
speak  like  this,  I,  who  was  the  leading  general  of  the  southern 
army  when  living  in  a  physical  body,  but  you  must  remember, 
brother,  I  am  a  spirit  and  see  things  in  their  true  light.  You 
know  and  understand  thoroughly  where  we  drink  to  the  sev- 
enth libation  we  drink  to  the  freedom  of  thought  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  the  angels. 

After  George  AYashington,  whom  the  men  and  women  of 
earth  call  the  Father  of  his  Country,  had  been  some  time  in 
spirit  life,  a  band  of  spirits  approached  him,  saying,  "Brother, 
you  call  America  the  land  of  freedom.  You  lied  when  you  said 
so — It  will  never  be  the  land  of  Freedom  while  a  human  body 
is  held  in  bondage.  Xow  you  must  assist  us  to  make  that  Amer- 
ica the  'Land  of  Freedom'  that  you  boasted  so  much  about  while 
living  in  a  physical  body.  \\'e  as  a  band  have  been  making 
preparations  for  a  change  of  ideas  in  that  country. 

"You  speak  of  'E.  Pluribus  Unum'  and  the  'Eagle  of  Free- 
dom,' but  we  deal  with  the  law  of  consequence  and  the  only  way 
or  passage  through  which  we  can  pass  at  the  present  time  is 
the  shedding  of  blood,  human  gore  must  fertilize  your  southern 
soil  in  order  to  break  up  the  chains  of  slavery.  You  held  the 
black  race  in  bondage  and  now  you  must  play  a  part  through 
which  you  must  become  the  voice  of  Freedom.  Xo  doubt  you 
think  our  method  and  purpose  is  a  cruel  one.  but  when  we  deal 
with  the  law  of  cruelty  we  must  punish  it  through  its  own 
method  .MI  this  occasion  and  that  is  war  between  the  north  and 
the  south  and  yours  must  be  the  guiding  voice  as  it  was  one  of 
the  guiding  voices  when  you  lived  in  the  physical  body.  Through 
your  generalship  in  the  phvsical  bodv  vou  drove  your  enemy 
from  the  shores  of  America  and  yet  at  the  same  time  they  were 
your  relations  and  kinsmen.  The  same  Saxon  blood  flowed 
through  vour  veins  that  coursed  through  theirs.  It  is  the  same 


310  THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

relationship  that  you  now  have  to  deal  with.  You  were  called  the 
'first  in  war,  the  first  in  peace  and  the  first  in  the  hearts  of  your 
countrymen.'  We  reverse  the  quotation  somewhat  to  suit  our 
purpose  and  you  must  become  the  first  in  this  case  to  suit  our 
purpose  also.  We  will  furnish  you  with  power  and  strength  to 
reach  the  leading  minds  of  the  south  by  impressing  upon  them 
the  only  thing  for  them  to  do  is  to  go  to  war  with  the  north. 
We  know  and  understand  full  well  that  many  of  the  beautiful 
young  men  of  the  south  must  fertilize  the  soil  with  their  blood 
to  prepare  it  for  the  new  coming  generation  of  husbandmen  who 
must  till  its  soil  in  the  time  of  peace.  We  see  nothing  now  but 
the  fate  of  war  awaiting  your  kindred. 

"\Ye  have  selected  a  child  who  is  Scotch  born.  When  he 
reaches  this  part  of  the  continent  that  you  call  North  America 
we  will  prepare  his  condition  to  become  the  most  daring  spy  the 
world  has  ever  known.  He  will  have  all  the  playful  graces  of  a 
nymph  from  the  woodland.  He  will  lure  men  to  their  ruin.  It 
must  be  so  in  order  to  carry  his  work  out  and  they  will  become 
so  ashamed  that  in  most  all  cases  they  will  keep  the  secret  to 
themselves.  Xow,  George  Washington,  you  must  become  the 
leading  voice  of  this  condition.  We  will  provide  one  to  lead 
this  little  individual  out  and  in  through  the  lines  of  both  armies. 
You  will  give  your  commands  to  that  spirit,  who  is  Joan  of  Arc, 
as  history  calls  her,  and  she  will  guide  the  little  medium  on  all 
occasions."  That,  brother,  is  what  I  heard  George  Washington 
tell  to  many  of  the  men  on  both  sides  of  the  strife  in  spirit  life. 

Xow  I  will  relate  something  concerning  this  creature's  life  : 
One  day  one  of  the  leading  generals  of  my  army  came  to 
my  quarters,  accompanied  by  his  staff.  He  said  he  had  some- 
thing for  my  private  ear  to  hear,  while  those  accompanying  him 
would  enjoy  themselves  by  mingling  with  my  officers  for  a  time. 
He  said  to  me  when  we  were  alone,  "General  Lee.  I  have  some- 
thing to  communicate  to  you  which  is  comical,  and  yet  it  has  a 
serious  side  to  it.  Three  days  ago  while  I  was  sitting  in  my  tent 
reading  a  northern  paper  that  had  been  brought  through  the 
lines,  a  little  boy  with  two  soldiers  presented  themselves  in 
front  of  my  quarters.  The  soldiers  told  the  guard  that  the  little 
boy  wanted  to  see  me.  I  received  him  and  the  soldiers  were 
dismissed  to  go  to  their  quarters. 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  311 

"Xo\v,  General,  I  will  describe  to  you  how  he  was  dressed. 
He  was  a  little  chap  with  large,  bright  eyes.  He  wore  a  little 
pair  of  pants  made  of  jeans,  buttoned  on  to  a  waist  of  a  differ- 
ent color,  and  wore  a  pair  of  old  shoes — I  think  they  must  have 
been  three  sizes  too  large  for  his  little  feet — and  oh,  General, 
he  had  such  pretty  lips  and  a  mouthful  of  white  teeth.  I  know, 
General,  those  lips  were  pretty,  for  I  tested  their  quality. 

"It  was  like  this.  General:  He  came  up  and  took  my  hand, 
saying,  'General,  I'm  awful  glad  to  see  you.  I've  been  looking 
for  you  so  long.  I  belong  to  the  Bell  family,'  and  while  he  was 
talking  to  me  he  took  a  top  out  of  his  pocket  and  a  string:  he 
wound  the  top,  threw  it  on  the  floor  of  my  tent — which,  of  course, 
was  the  ground.  General,  as  I  had  left  my  comfortable  quarters, 
as  you  know.  \Yhile  the  top  was  spinning  he  laughed  with  all 
the  glee  of  a  child  full  of  boyish  fun.  He  said,  'Look,  General, 
how  gay  Jeff  Davis  looks  spinning  around.  He's  just  a  walking 
over  all  the  Yankees,  ain't  he?'  which  made  me  laugh  at  the 
boyish  idea.  "\Yhen  the  top  commenced  to  waver  and  finally  lay 
quietly  on  the  ground  he  picked  up  the  top  and  the  string  and 
putting  them  into  his  pocket  got  up  into  my  lap,  laughed  into 
my  face  and  said  to  me,  'President  Davis  must  have  been  out 
last  night ;  that's  why  he  got  so  weak  and  had  to  lie  down.'  I 
laughed  and  said,  *Y\  ho  are  you,  boy,  and  what  do  you  want 
here?'  He  said.  'I'm  going  to  tell  you  all  about  it.  General.' 
Then  he  took  my  large  hands  between  his  little  hands,  saying  at 
the  same  time,  'Ain't  you  got  big,  strong  hands?  I  bet  you  can 
make  the  Yankees  run.' 

"\Yhile  his  feet  were  in  motion  the  old  shoes  came  off,  dis- 
playing to  view  two  pretty  little  feet  with  a  high  instep.  He 
said,  'Mv  name  is  \Yillie  Bell.  I'm  looking  for  papa.  He  went 
away  with  the  soldiers.  Xow  you're  a  big  general,  can't  you  tell 
me  where  he  is?'  I  said.  'I'm  afraid  not  :  there  are  so  many  sol- 
diers in  the  southern  army  and  perhaps  quite  a  number  of  them 
may  bear  the  name  of  Bell.'  '(  )h.'  he  says,  'my  papa  was  an 
officer  and  had  a  big  sword.'  XYhen  he  said  that  he  slipped  his 
little  hand  inside  of  my  shirt.  Then,  General.  I  seemed  to  be- 
come happy,  lie  looked  up  at  me  with  those  eyes  of  his.  say- 
ing. 'General.  1  know  some  songs.  Don't  you  know  some,  too?' 
I  told  him  I  knew  a  few.  then  I  asked  him  if  he  could  sing,  lie 


312         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

said,  'A  little  bit.'  Then  I  said,  'Xow,  Willie,  if  you  will  sing 
for  me  I  will  see  that  you  get  something  to  eat,  for  you  must  be 
hungry,  walking  so  far.'  He  curled  his  little  feet  up  under  his 
body,  laid  his  head  on  my  breast  and  commenced  to  sing.  Oh 
God,  General,  I  wish  you  could  have  heard  that  voice.  I  won- 
dered where  it  all  came  from.  The  little  body  was  so  fragile 
looking.  He  could  not  have  weighed  over  seventy  or  eighty 
pounds  at  the  most. 

"He  sang  for  me,  'Love  Dreams/  and  General,  I  became  an 
enchanted  man.  I  fell  in  love  with  the  little  boy  and  kissed  and 
hugged  him.  He  played  with  my  beard,  running  his  little  fin- 
gers through  it  and  calling  me  sweet  names  and  finally  he  called 
me  papa.  General,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  a  powerful  battery  of 
electricity  was  applied  to  my  body.  I  threw  my  arms  around 
him,  tightly  holding  him  to  my  breast,  afraid  that  he  might  es- 
cape, for  it  seemed  to  me  he  would  disappear  if  I  did  not  hold 
him.  I  said  to  him,  'Boy,  sing  for  me  again.'  Then  he  sang  for 
me,  'When  Evening  Brings  the  Twilight  O'er.'  Then,  General,  I 
seemed  to  become  a  changed  man  and  did  not  realize  who  I  was. 
My  whole  nature  went  out  to  that  boy.  I  ordered  a  basin  of 
water  and  a  towel  to  be  brought  to  my  tent.  I  then  bathed  his 
hands  and  face  and  dried  them  with  the  towel  and  afterwards 
bathed  his  feet  in  like  manner,  drying  them  with  the  towel.  I 
placed  him  on  my  bed,  lying  down  alongside  of  him,  taking  him 
in  my  arms.  He  sang  me  a  lullaby  and  we  both  went  to  sleep. 

"That,  General,  was  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Y\  e 
did  not  wake  until  about  three  in  the  afternoon.  AYhile  I  was 
sleeping  I  dreamed  I  owned  that  boy:  that  he  turned  into  a  girl 
and  became  my  wife,  as  it  seemed  to  me  in  my  dream  I  was  one 
of  the  happiest  men  living. 

"AYhen  I  awoke  he  was  kissing  me  and  playing  with  my 
beard.  My  first  thought  was  that  he  must  have  shoes  more  fit- 
ting to  his  feet,  for  those  feet  seemed  too  clear  to  me  to  be  en- 
cased in  such  horrible  looking  old  shoes.  That  evening  he  and  I 
dined  alone.  He  said,  'Xow,  papa,  I'm  going  to  wait  on  you,  for 
I'm  your  boy  now,  you  know.  I'm  going  to  brush  your  clothes 
tomorrow  and  clean  up  your  sword  so  it  will  look  bright.'  I 
was  happy  then,  General,  and  did  not  want  to  find  his  father. 

"\Yhen  we  retired  for  the  night  I  gave  him  one  of  my  shirts 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  313 

to  sleep  in,  as  it  was  my  desire  that  he  should  take  off  his  clothes 
and  rest  his  little  body  properly,  for  I  felt  he  belonged  to  me 
then.  When  we  laid  ourselves  down  to  rest  he  sang  for  me  a 
Scotch  song,  'There's  nae  room  but  for  twa,  Tom.'  While  he 
was  singing  I  placed  my  hand  inside  of  the  shirt  and  made  the 
discovery  that  his  breasts  were  too  large  for  a  boy.  After  he 
had  finished  singing  the  song  I  asked  him,  'How  is  it  that  you 
have  such  large  breasts?'  He  said  that  he  was  of  both  natures, 
the  female  predominating.  He  said  it  in  such  a  childish  way, 
General,  that  I  asked  him  to  become  my  boy  and  to  live  with 
me  always.  I  told  him  I  had  daughters  and  sons,  but  he  would 
always  be  my  little  pet  and  go  with  me  everywhere.  We  kissed 
one  another  good  night,  and  as  I  supposed,  he  went  to  sleep  in 
my  arms,  for  he  commenced  to  snore  like  a  good  fellow.  After 
awhile  I  went  to  sleep,  dreaming  of  the  treasure  I  thought  I 
possessed. 

"Some  time  during  the  night  he  chloroformed  me  and  stole 
my  most  valuable  papers  and  escaped  in  the  darkness.  Xow, 
General,  what  do  you  think  of  that?  I  believe  that  little  indi- 
vidual bewitched  me  and  brought  me  under  some  power  of  his 
that  I  cannot  give  you  any  explanation  of." 

I  burst  out  laughing,  when  he  said.  "General  Lee,  v/hat  are 
you  laughing  at?  It  has  been  a  serious  affair  to  me.  I  lost  my 
valuable  watch  and  chain  and  a  medallion  that  I  prized  very 
much.  He  even  sucked  the  ring  off  my  finger  in  some  manner, 
for  I  never  could  get  it  off." 

I  said  to  him.  "General,  no\v  listen  to  me.  That  same  indi- 
vidual interviewed  me  at  my  quarters.  He  came  through  our 
lines  with  Reynolds,  whom  you  know  is  a  staunch  friend  of  our 
cause.  He  bewitched  him,  fascinated  me.  escaped  in  the  night, 
or  I  should  say  in  the  early  part  of  the  night,  about  10  o'clock, 
taking  with  him  many  things  that  were  of  value  to  him.  I  just 
heard  oi  him  the  other  day,  when  he  entered  our  lines  dressed 
u|)  as  a  little  old  woman,  peddling  tobacco  among  the  soldiers. 
She  had  an  interview  with  General  Stuart,  telling  him  how  she 
would  cure  his  bad  cough.  She'd  go  home  and  prepare  a  mix- 
ture and  in  some  way  she  got  mixed  up  and  never  returned  to 
the  General.  Tt  does  beat  all  hell  that  we  can't  catch  that  little 
bastard.  He  or  she.  whichever  it  is,  seems  to  bear  a  charmed 


314         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

life.  If  I  once  get  the  damned  imp  of  hell  in  my  clutches  he'll 
not  escape  me,  for  I'll  have  the  miserable  whelp  hung  up  so  high 
that  he  can  be  seen  from  the  surrounding  country.  Then  I'll 
have  our  boys  fill  his  body  with  good  confederate  lead  and  send 
for  Jeff  Davis,  that  he  may  gloat  upon  the  wretch  who  has  been 
the  cause  of  so  much  trouble  to  the  Southern  government."  The 
General  said,  "Xo,  General  Lee,  let  me  have  him  first  and  I'll 
have  him  chained  to  a  nigger  and  parade  him  through  the  streets 
of  Richmond."  I  said  to  the  General,  "Xo,  by  God,  you'll  do 
nothing  of  the  kind.  The  curse  would  slip  out  of  the  chains  and 
leave  the  nigger  in  the  lurch.  He's  one  of  those  kind  of  beings 
that  that  old  bastard,  Horace  Greeley,  said  in  his  newspaper, 
'You  had  him,  but  now  you  don't  have  him/  General,  he's  go- 
ing to  swing  for  the  edification  of  old  Abe  Lincoln." 

\Ye  will  continue  at  another  time.  They  say  I  must  release 
him.  I  wish  I  could  have  released  him  in  hell.  You  can  put 
down  what  I  say.  Oh,  I've  no  love  for  him. 

\Yednesday,  Xovember  12,  1902. 

To  action,  comrade  and  brother.  You  understand  why  I 
call  you  comrade  and  brother — the  medium  does  not. 

Xo  doubt  yesterday  you  thought  I  spoke  very  slightingly 
of  the  medium,  but  comrade,  if  you  had  been  placed  during  the 
civil  war  in  the  position  that  I  held,  no  doubt  you  would  have 
been  just  as  vexed  as  I  am  now  as*  a  spirit. 

\Yhen  I  lived  in  the  physical  body  my  whole  dignity  bore 
an  affront  that  I  never  lived  clown  while  in  that  physical  body. 
Your  little  medium  was  a  tempter  and  I  fell  under  the  wiles  of 
his  fascination.  Xow  today  I  beg  your  pardon  and  take  back 
the  slighting  remarks  that  I  cast  upon  the  instrument  brought 
into  use  by  those  of  the  spirit  world.  Today  I  call  him  a  great 
hero,  and  wish  you  to  see  that  it  is  put  in  brackets  in  the  publi- 
cation. Yesterday  I  called  him  a  miserable  creature,  as  I  felt  1 
could  not  proceed  with  the  communication  until  I  had  spoken 
my  mind.  I  have  been  released  from  that  condition.  I  came 
today  to  pay  him  the  respect  and  honor  due  him.  He  loved  the 
country  of  his  adoption  and  in  him  the  spirits  found  a  subject 
void  of  fear,  with  his  winning  ways  the  influence  brought  all  the 
coquetry  to  bear  that  you  would  find  in  the  human  anatomy. 
It  was  produced  in  such  an  innocent  way  that  his  victims  looked 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  315 

upon  him  as  a  child  whose  entire  make-up  was  that  of  love  and 
affection.  The  female  being  the  predominant  part  of  his  nature 
he  wove  a  web  around  men's  hearts  and  in  the  meshes  of  that 
net  they  found  the  nature  of  Eve.  This  condition  brings  to  life 
many  a  fatal  step  that  men  take.  They  leap  before  they  think 
and  land  in  disgrace  and  shame.  They  do  not  realize  it  until 
the  fatal  steps  have  been  taken  because  there  is  so  much  Adam 
in  their  natures.  When  they  reflect  they  curse  the  female  sex 
and  call  them  the  Gods  of  ruin,  false  ones  of  the  past,  false  ones 
of  the  future,  angels  and  ministers  of  Death. 

Now  I  am  going  to  relate  something  to  you  that  many  of 
the  reading  public  will  laugh  at  and  say  it  came  from  the  brain 
of  an  imbecile ;  that  is,  I  have  made  a  discovery — reincarnation, 
or  re-embodiment  if  you  choose  to  call  it  that — is  a  fact  in  na- 
ture and  one  of  the  grandest  facts  realized  by  the  children  of 
God.  Xow  I  know  that  many  in  your  physical  philosophy  do 
not  believe  in  re-embodiment ;  that  is,  a  spirit  taking  upon  itself 
a  physical  condition  wherein  the  spirit  enters  the  womb  of  the 
mother  during  conception.  This  I  know  to  be  a  fact  and  some 
day  at  a  not  far  distant  time  the  human  race  will  realize  what 
I  say. 

There  are  many  having  the  clairvoyant  power  who  have 
seen  that  condition  take  place — the  spirit  entering  the  womb  of 
the  mother — but  when  they  have  spoken  of  it  to  their  friends 
they  have  been  laughed  at  and  in  some  instances  insulted  by 
those  that  they  loved  very  clearly.  Those  living  friends  called 
the  clairvoyant  visionary,  and  said  some  day  if  they  were  not 
careful  they  would  become  inmates  of  a  madhouse.  Oh  igno- 
rance, ignorance,  it  takes  a  long  time  for  Truth  to  break  through 
your  walls.  Some  day  her  light  will  be  glorious. 

This  instrument  that  I  now  control  is  a  reincarnated  spirit. 
That  spirit  is  all  intelligence  while  the  physical  body  is  the  house 
wherein  is  placed  the  machinery  that  the  great  electric  power 
of  nature  can  work  upon.  Nature  moves  the  great  cog-wheels 
of  animation.  That  animation  draws  forces  out  of  nature  which 
feeds  the  brain  with  thought  or  furnishes  it  with  intellect  that 
it  finds  in  space.  Space  is  filled  with  thought  and  intellect  is  de- 
veloped out  of  thought.  A  great  many  individuals  who  look 
upon  their  condition  as  being  that  of  elevation  and  education  are 


316         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

yet  still  ignorant  of  the  forces  in  nature ;  they,  having  been  en- 
dowed with  sufficient  brain  to  receive  an  education  lacking  the 
spirituality  and  the  innersight  of  God's  wisdom,  have  failed  to 
understand  the  law  governing  spirituality.  Re-embodiment,  be- 
ing one  of  those  laws,  can  only  be  understood  by  the  highly  de- 
veloped in  life.  Weak  brains  can  never  discover  God's  power 
in  nature  until  they  have  been  re-embodied  a  number  of  times; 
until  they  have  gained  strength  and  force  of  character  through 
wisdom's  law. 

The  medium  through  whose  lips  I  give  my  expression  was  a 
female  until  the  present  reincarnation.  It  has  been  left  for  me 
to  tell  you  or  convey  the  information  to  your  brains  that  this 
medium  in  one  reincarnation  was  Helen  McGregor  of  Scotland. 
I,  who  was  known  as  Robert  E.  Lee  in  the  physical  form,  in  one 
reincarnation  was  Rob  Roy  McGregor  of  Scotland.  English  his- 
tory calls  me  an  outlaw,  but  I  was  only  defending  the  rights  of 
my  tribe.  The  people  of  England  and  also  those  of  the  Low- 
lands of  Scotland,  persecuted  the  Highlanders  when  an  opportu- 
nity availed  them  to  do  so.  The  brain  action  that  I  held  then 
in  my  possession  compelled  me  to  feel  it  was  my  duty  to  do  as  I 
did.  George  Washington,  known  as  and  called  the  Father  of 
His  Country,  was  known  in  one  reincarnation  as  Sir  William 
Wallace,  the  hero  of  Scotland. 

You  must  understand,  brother  and  comrade,  we  do  not  be- 
come angels  when  we  pass  through  nature's  channel  called 
Death  and  enter  Spirit  life.  We  still  retain  many  of  the  facul- 
ties of  our  first  condition.  Sir  William  Wallace,  through  the 
physical  body  of  George  Washington,  got  even  with  the  Eng- 
lish and  had  the  pleasure  of  driving  them  from  our  shores  of 
Freedom.  Xo  doubt  the  readers  of  your  book  will  think  that 
\vas  revengeful.  Such  natures  are  revengeful  until  thoroughly 
spiritualized.  When  they  are  thoroughly  spiritualized  they  no 
longer  have  any  use  for  a  physical  body.  General  Grant  was 
l>ruce  of  Scotland  and  the  same  blood  that  ran  in  his  veins 
courses  through  the  veins  of  your  medium  ;  one  of  the  medium's 
grandmothers  being  a  Bruce. 

When  we  take  upon  us  a  physical  body  we  also  take  the 
traits  of  character  in  manner  of  speech  and  stature  and  many  of 
the  traits  of  that  family;  we  inherit  these  as  we  are  willing  to 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  317 

comply  with  the  conditions.  You  call  it  hereditary  things  in 
nature,  but  we  never  give  up  the  true  source  of  our  nature ;  that 
is  the  leading  point  that  we  are  bound  to  carry  out. 

Abraham  Lincoln  in  one  reincarnation  was  Frederick  the 
Great.  He  was  looked  upon  by  the  people  as  a  great  warrior. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  a  man  that  desired  peace.  His  mind 
had  a  great  council  of  its  own  and  applied  his  thoughts  to  ac- 
tion. It  matters  not  what  kind  of  a  family  or  race  of  people  we 
come  through,  we  have  one  object  in  view,  and  our  whole  desire 
is  to  produce  that  object  through  the  law  of  practice  which  gov- 
erns our  destiny.  We  are  forced  through  law  of  practice  to 
submit  to  all  its  conditions  on  all  points.  Your  President,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  worked  out  that  condition  by  becoming  the  Prince 
of  Peace  through  which  he  liberated  the  black  race.  He  settled 
that  question.  He  brought  peace  to  our  great  nation  and  to 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  for  which  I  know  they  bless  him 
in  their  prayers. 

Bruce  was  a  stubborn  man  as  the  canny  Scotch  can  ever  be 
on  the  side  of  right.  He  worked  out  his  condition  through  the 
physical  body  of  U.  S.  Grant.  We  are  all  friends  now,  under- 
standing the  rights  of  the  human  race.  We  are  worked  and 
acted  upon  as  you  see  the  wind  bends  the  boughs  of  the  trees, 
so  we  have  to  bend  to  the  work  that  is  laid  out  before  us.  Jef- 
ferson Davis  was  required  to  play  his  part  in  what  you  call  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  just  as  much  as  General  Grant  was  re- 
quired to  crush  it  out.  Jefferson  Davis,  being  a  visionary  indi- 
vidual, was  played  upon  as  you  would  play  upon  the  strings  of 
a  harp.  His  sensitive  nature  was  attuned  to  visionary  dreams, 
while  U.  S.  Grant  had  the  Scotch  stubborn  nature  of  the  P>ruces. 
It  was  conquer  or  die. 

There  was  nothing  visionary  in  U.  S.  Grant's  nature.  It 
was  practicality  worked  out  through  practical  action.  I  will 
compare  it  to  a  stubborn  bull  looking  at  a  fence  that  divides  two 
fields.  He  says  to  himself,  "I'm  going  to  that  other  field  if  I 
have  to  leave  part  of  my  hide  behind."  Grant  said  to  himself, 
"I  will  conquer  and  put  down  this  rebellion  or  I  will  know  the 
reason  why."  Your  nation  discovered  the  reason.  That  was 
made  manifest  to  both  the  child  and  the  adult. 

We  will  take  it  up  another  time. 


318         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Friday,  November  14,  1902. 

Good  morning,  brother.  I  see  the  air  is  entirely  different 
from  what  it  was  when  I  visited  you  before.  It  is  a  new  expres- 
sion working  on  the  old  condition.  Every  day  brings  a  new  ex- 
pression upon  the  past.  That  is  why  the  human  mind  is  ex- 
panding so  every  day.  It  is  grappling  with  theories  ever  old, 
yet  new  with  the  expression  of  growth  and  intellect.  The  mind 
grows  and  blossoms  more  fruitful  with  ideas  every  day.  That 
is  why  our  public  schools  are  producing  more  intellectual  men, 
and  women  of  highly  developed  brains  are  so  common  now 
among  the  human  race  that  you  do  not  notice  them  as  much  as 
you  did  fifty  years  ago.  There  is  a  wave  that  is  passing  over 
the  universe  which  we  will  designate  as  the  wave  of  Intellect. 
The  twentieth  century  will  produce  some  wonderful  men  and 
women. 

When  I  was  a  young  man  I  made  a  visit  to  Xew  York  City 
in  company  with  another  young  man  whose  name  was  Aleade. 
As  we  were  walking  along  on  the  outside  of  Washington  Square 
in  that  city,  we  discovered  a  large  crowd  of  people  had  collected 
in  the  park.  Meade  said  to  me,  "Robert,  let  us  enter  by  one  of 
the  gates  and  see  what  it  means.  Perhaps  we  can  make  the  dis- 
covery why  that  crowd  of  people  has  assembled  there."  We 
walked  into  the  park  and  looking  over  the  heads  of  somt  of  the 
people  we  discovered  a  little  child  standing  on  a  bench — a  wee 
little  creature.  He  was  talking  with  a  broken  Scotch  accent,  I 
would  call  it.  He  seemed  to  be  preaching  and  spoke  of  the  needs 
of  the  time.  I  was  then  a  full  fledged  Christian  and  some 
of  his  words  shocked  me.  Many  of  the  women  and  men  in  the 
crowd  said  he  was  crazy  and  some  devil  had  possession  of  the 
little  creature.  Finally  a  big,  burly.  Irish  policeman  came  along, 
caught  hold  of  the  Little  One  and  dragged  him  down  from  the 
bench.  He  dragged  him  in  such  a  rough  manner  that  I  thought 
some  of  the  little  creature's  bones  must  have  been  broken,  but 
when  he  arose  from  the  ground  I  saw  he  stood  up  all  right.  He 
smiled  and  threw  kisses  to  the  people.  The  burly  Irish  police- 
man said,  "Ye  little  spalpeen,  you're  at  it  agin,  are  ye?  This  is 
the  third  time  I've  had  to  take  ye  in." 

He  went  off,  dragging  the  child  in  such  a  rough  manner 
that  Meade  broke  through  the  crowd,  went  up  to  the  policeman 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  319 

and  said,  "You  stop  dragging  that  child  in  that  cruel  way  or  I'll 
make  it  hot  for  you."  The  policeman  said,  "G'vvan,  now — it's 
none  of  your  affair."  Meade  said,  "I  will  make  it  my  affair,  for 
I  will  walk  to  the  station  house  with  you  and  enter  a  complaint 
against  you  for  cruelty  to  children."  The  Irish  policeman  laughed 
and  said,  ''You'll  have  all  your  walk  for  nothing,  me  bucky  lad." 

Meade  and  I  followed  the  policeman  while  a  crowd  of  chil- 
dren followed  us  all.  I  noticed  the  child's  clothes  were  torn  and 
inquired  of  some  of  the  children  if  they  knew  how  his  clothes 
came  to  be  torn  in  that  manner.  A  boy,  I  should  judge  about 
twelve  years  of  age,  said,  "Yes,  sir,  I  know — the  women  tore  his 
clothes  dragging  him  off  from  the  bench.  He  got  up  again  onto 
the  bench  and  commenced  to  talk,  when  one  of  the  women  struck 
him  in  the  face  with  her  parasol ;  that's  what  makes  the  blood  on 
his  face."  He  described  in  true  boyish  style,  which  I  do  not  give 
you  exactly  here. 

As  we  were  walking  towards  the  station  house  the  police- 
man dragged  the  child  in  such  a  way  that  he  became  tired  and 
could  not  walk  any  further.  Some  of  the  children  hissed  at  the 
policeman  and  called  him  an  old  Irish  galoot  and  why  didn't  he 
give  the  child  a  chance  to  walk  right?  Just  then  a  very  nice 
looking  gentleman  came  along  with  some  papers  in  his  hand.  lie 
stepped  up  to  where  we  were  standing  and  looking  at  the  child 
sitting  on  the  ground  panting  for  breath,  he  said,  ''Dennis  Kelly, 
you  pick  that  child  up  and  carry  it  to  the  station  house.  I  know 
who  he  is,  I'm  acquainted  with  his  people."  The  policeman 
picked  up  the  child  and  carried  it.  I  entered  into  conversation 
with  the  young  gentleman  and  made  the  discovery  he  was  a  law- 
yer. He  said  his  name  was  Edwards.  He  said  he  would  walk 
to  the  station  house  with  us  and  speak  in  behalf  of  the  child. 
This  Mr.  Edwards  afterwards  became  the  famous  lawyer  and 
Judge  Edwards.  AYhen  we  reached  the  station  house  the  po- 
liceman told  his  storv,  how  he  found  the  child  again  preaching 
in  the  park  or  square.  Mr.  Edwards  spoke  to  the  Chief  of  Po- 
lice, saying,  "There  is  something  behind  all  this  if  we  only  un- 
derstood it."  The  Chief  of  Police  told  him,  "This  is  the  third 
time  that  child  has  been  brought  before  me  for  disturbing  the 
peace."  Then  Mr.  Meade  entered  a  complaint  against  the  po- 
liceman lor  cruelty  to  children.  Nothing  came  of  the  complaint, 


320         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

as  the  whole  police  force  was  Irish  in  those  days.  The  Chief 
of  Police  was  also  a  red-headed  Irishman  who  looked  more  fit 
to  be  driving  a  mule  team  than  the  Chief  of  a  police  force.  This 
same  Mr.  Meade  that  I  speak  of,  in  after  life  became  your  fa- 
mous Northern  general  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

The  Chief  looked  down  at  the  Little  One  and  said,  "'Why 
do  you  disturb  the  peace  so  much  by  getting  a  crowd  around 
you  and  talking  to  the  people?''  The  Little  One  looked  up  at 
him,  smiling  all  the  time,  when  he  said,  "Mon,  I  canna  help  it. 
I  hae  to  dee  it  or  I'd  burst." 

The  Chief  ordered  some  water  brought.  He  took  a  towel 
and  wet  it,  saying  to  the  Little  One,  "Now  get  up  here  on  my 
knee,"  and  washing  the  blood  off  his  face  he  said  to  the  police- 
man, "How  did  this  come?  Who  cut  the  gash  on  his  cheek?" 
The  policeman  said  he  did  not  know.  I  told  the  Chief  that  a 
boy  said  a  woman  had  struck  him  in  the  lace  with  her  parasol. 
The  Chief  said,  "I  think  women  are  more  cruel  to  children  than 
men,  as  a  general  thing."  He  looked  into  the  Little  One's  face, 
saying,  "Little  boy,  you  have  beautiful  eyes."  He  turned  him 
around  on  his  knee,  saying,  "Gentlemen,  just  look  at  those  eyes. 
It's  too  bad  that  such  a  loony  child  should  have  such  beauti- 
ful eyes."  Little  did  he  or  we  think  then  that  those  eyes  would 
play  a  part  in  the  future  in  the  great  rebellion,  as  you  call  it. 

The  Chief  then  took  and  kissed  the  Little  One,  released  him 
and  handed  him  over  to  Mr.  Edwards,  saying,  "Edwards,  you 
see  that  he  gets  to  his  people."  This  happened  long  before  the 
days  of  what  they  call  the  "Rochester  knockings." 

After  we  left  the  station  house  Meacle  picked  the  Little 
One  up  and  carried  him  in  his  arms  for  quite  a  ways.  When  we 
reached  Broadway  Mr.  Edwards  said,  "Now,  Meade,  I  will  take 
the  child  from  you  and  convey  him -to  his  home."  When  we 
were  walking  down  Broadway  I  said,  "Meade,  why  did  you  take 
such  an  interest  in  that  little  brat?"  He  turned  and  looked  at 
me  with  a  pale  face,  as  if  my  words  had  stung  him.  He  said, 
"Lee,  wasn't  he  pretty?"  I  said,  "'Yes,  but  there  are  thousands 
of  young  ones  just  as  pretty."  He  said,  "Possibly,  but  not  with 
a  beauty  that  child  has."  He  caught  hold  of  my  arm  and  stop- 
ped me  from  going  any  further.  He  said,  "Robert  Lee,  those 
eyes  haunt  me.  I  cannot  obliterate  them  from  my  mind  ;  I  have 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  321 

a  strange  feeling.  You  may  laugh  at  it,  Robert,  but  I  feel  that 
child  will  play  a  part  in  my  life.  I  cannot  tell  you  where  or 
how,  but  it  will  be  somewhere  in  my  future  life.  I  feel  that  it 
is  in  our  destiny  that  we  will  come  together  again  in  the  fu- 
ture," which  was  fully  realized. 

Twenty  years  afterwards,  when  the  human  mind  had  grown 
some,  I  heard  a  young  girl  lecture  on  the  same  theme,  ''The 
Needs  of  the  Time,"  that  I  had  heard  the  Little  One  speak  on 
in  Washington  Square.  The  young  girl  that  spoke  on  that  sub- 
ject bore  the  name  of  Cora  Scott,  now  the  great  instrument  for 
spirit  power  whose  name  is  Mrs.  Cora  L.  V.  Richmond,  one  of 
the  greatest  mouthpieces  for  spiritual  communication.  She  too, 
when  a  child,  displayed  her  mediumship,  but  the  condition  I 
speak  of  in  connection  with  your  little  medium  took  place  before 
Cora  Scott  had  taken  on  a  physical  body.  His  band  in  spirit  life 
tells  me  they  had  to  transform  his  work  from  outdoor  speaking 
to  that  of  the  stage,  where  he  could  display  his  powers  in  the 
conception  of  character.  The  people  in  whose  care  he  was  did 
not  take  care  of  him  at  all,  neither  did  they  understand  his  na- 
ture or  condition  in  that  little  physical  body.  He  was  abused 
and  knocked  around  as  if  he  was  a  wild  weed  that  grew  in  their 
way  and  must  be  dispensed  with.  It  must  have  been  a  relief 
to  the  little  creature  and  a  joy  when  he  found  his  way  into  the 
theatre. 

Little  did  I  think  then  that  he  would  also  play  a  part  in  my 
future  life.  I  was  introduced  to  him  at  three  different  times  in 
the  green  room  at  different  theatres  and  on  different  occasions, 
never  thinking  it  was  the  same  Little  One  that  I  had  met  be- 
fore, his  disguises  being  so  perfect.  \Yhen  we  met  during  the 
war  he  looked  no  more  like  the  Little  One  I  had  met  in  the 
green  room  than  a  bright  sunny  day  docs  a  cloudy  night. 

Xow,  brother,  1  am  dissatisfied  with  my  condition  in  spirit 
life  and  wish  to  return  in  a  physical  body.  I  feel  there  is  a  void 
in  my  life  that  I  have  not  filled  up  and  my  great  desire  is  now 
to  become  re-embodied  in  a  physical  bodv.  I  want  to  carry  out 
a  work  that  will  become  satisfactory  to  my  spiritual  desire.  I 
want  t<>  become  a  teacher  of  Spiritual  Theosophy,  explaining  and 
conveying  to  the  human  mind  a  full  theori/ation  of  the  philos- 
ophy of  Theosophy,  leading  and  developing  the  mind  that  re- 


THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

embodiment  is  the  greatest  expression  that  we  have  of  future 
growth  on  this  planet.  Until  I  am  thoroughly  prepared  to  take 
on  a  physical  body  I  \vill  give  the  light  from  time  to  time 
through  some  mediumistic  individual. 

\Yhen  I  return  in  a  physical  body  I  will  also  become  a 
writer  wielding  a  pen,  both  scathing  and  burning  my  thoughts 
into  the  human  brain,  for  fire  is  a  purifier.  I  will  burn  up  all 
the  brush  that  clogs  the  human  mind  and  through  my  pen  and 
form  of  speech  -I  will  light  up  the  desert  wastes  of  human  in- 
tellect, a  burning  light  that  never  can  be  quenched  again  by 
priestcraft  or  superstition. 

\Yhen  I  lived  in  a  physical  form  I  was  what  you  would  call 
a  Christian.,  religious  man,  but  alas,  what  did  it  amount  to?  I 
was  groping  through  a  mist  of  superstition.  YYhen  I  entered 
spirit  life  I  was  a  disappointed  spirit.  I  found  no  Saviour  await- 
ing me  that  I  had  fully  believed  in,  for  Christianity  was  my 
faith,  and  as  I  thought,  had  it  fully  established  on  the  "Rock  of 
Ages."  Either  the  dissolution  that  had  taken  place  in  my  hu- 
man body  or  the  taking  on  of  the  new  birth  had  clouded  my 
brain,  but  as  time  passed  along  I  made  the  discovery  that  I  had 
been  a  deluded  man  like  millions  of  others,  trusting  to  faith 
alone  and  not  to  the  true  reality  of  the  soul.  I  was  a  weakling 
before  the  shrine  of  ancient  pagan  religion,  dressed  up  in  a  new 
form  of  priestcraft  called  Christianity.  They  could  not  stand 
the  light  of  the  Sun.  that  greatest  God  that  our  planet  knows 
of.  They  clouded  the  human  brain  by  introducing  a  man  made 
God,  called  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  thoughts  and  works  of 
ancient  prophets  they  placed  in  the  mouth  of  this  puppet  that 
they  had  created  for  weaklings  to  fall  down  and  worship  and  I 
was  one  of  those  weaklings. 

YVe  are  all  strings  attached  to  the  harp  of  nature  and  played 
upon  by  will  power  for  weal  or  for  woe.  It  is  a  grand  thing  for 
men  and  women  living  in  a  physical  body  to  have  that  power 
of  oratory  at  their  command  and  a  sane  brain  whereby  they 
caii  discourse  before  a  large  assembly  on  the  light  of  truth  and 
the  power  of  Reason.  I  hope  to  be  all  this  when  I  am  re-em- 
bodied. 1  have  a  desire  to  get  and  become  equal  in  a  satisfactory 
way  to  the  outworkings  of  my  nature.  It  is  my  desire  that  I 
shall  square  up  things  performed  by  me  in  my  past  physical 


GEN.  ROBERT  E.  LEE  323 

body.  I  want  to  go  into  the  depths  of  Solar  Science  and  eradi- 
cate that  which  held  me  down  to  earth.  It  may  unfold  itself 
through  a  principle  called  Solar  lore ;  at  the  same  time  it  will  be 
a  history  of  past  experience  embellished  and  glorified  through 
nature  in  me. 

Life  will  be  a  beautiful  thing  to  live  and  I  will  give  that  life 
to  the  human  race  by  teaching  how  to  live  one,  two,  three  and 
four  hundred  years  in  a  physical  body.  It  will  not  be  alone  per- 
formed by  the  sanitary  conditions  of  your  home  and  surround- 
ings, but  by  the  sanitary  condition  of  your  physical  body.  You  will 
prepare  that  temple  of  worship  wherein  a  pure  spirit  can  dwell 
never  becoming  tired  as  your  physical  body  does  now.  You 
will  live  and  eat  differently,  doing  away  with  all  forms  of  meat 
diet  that  creates  such  a  desire  for  something  to  drink.  You  will 
hold  in  check  that  desire  by  becoming  a  vegetarian.  Meat  cre- 
ates a  fire  in  the  human  system  that  brings  on  a  desire  and  a 
wish  for  a  variety  of  drinks ;  the  ingredients  of  those  drinks  and 
the  substance  of  the  flesh  that  you  partake  of  clogs  up  the  chan- 
nels of  the  human  system.  The  result  is  disease  and  the  death 
of  the  physical  body.  The  spirit  has  to  be  released  from  that 
condition  in  order  to  prepare  itself  for  re-embodiment  whereby 
it  gains  knowledge  through  such  a  process  in  nature  and  be- 
comes the  teacher  of  the  future  race  of  men  and  women. 

Intellectual  and  intelligent  minds  will  not  laugh  at  my  say- 
ings. Only  pay  attention  to  them  in  order,  for  it  is  the  law  of 
order  that  builds  up  a  better  condition  through  the  higher  in- 
tellect, but  minds  clogged  up  through  Christian  superstition  will 
ridicule  them.  The  reason  is  simple;  they  have  not  become  ele- 
vated above  the  Jewish  tales  of  a  blood-thirsty  God.  There  is 
no  Peace  in  their  souls  and  never  can  be  until  Harmony  reigns 
with  the  laws  of  Nature  in  that  undeveloped  soul.  Harmony 
produces  Love.  Love  is  God  embellished  with  Truth.  Truth 
is  the  great  generator  of  life  constantly  re-incarnating  through 
the  law  of  creation. 

When  minds  become  blended  and  attuned  to  the  power  and 
law  of  Theosophy,  then  progression  will  go  right  on  beautifying 
all  spiritual  souls  until  their  purified  natures  will  be  one  with 
God.  no  longer  requiring  the  law  of  Force.  <>ne  of  the  powers 
of  Theosophical  conditions  such  as  men  and  women  fall  under 


324        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

to  give  them  the  true  light  of  Reason  and  Wisdom.  Wisdom 
is  a  great  power  when  brought  into  force  and  worked  out  through 
a  spiritual  elevation,  for  Wisdom  is  the  talisman  of  God  and  the 
human  race.  When  your  medium  will  be  reincarnated  the  next 
time  in  a  physical  body  she  will  be  of  her  proper  sex,  a  woman, 
and  between  her  orations  from  the  rostrum  and  her  pencillings 
of  Immortality,  heard  and  read  by  the  reading  public,  she  will 
awaken  a  new  soul  desire  in  the  human  intellect.  It  will  be  so 
forcible  it  will  cause  men  to  shake  in  their  boots,  and  women 
to  tremble  in  their  skirts.  The  thoughts  coming  from  her  lips 
will  teach  the  children  of  earth  they  have  played  long  enough 
with  God's  wisdom.  Priestcraft  will  hate  her,  for  they  will  trem- 
ble before  her  with  fear.  She  will  enlighten  the  minds  of  God's 
children  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  cry  shame  upon  the  priest- 
hood and  burn  down  the  Romish  Church  where  popery  has  held 
its  sway  so  long,  to  the  disgrace  of  the  human  race,  calling  them- 
selves Christians. 

I,  Robert  E.  Lee,  who  once  lived  in  a  physical  body  and 
was  looked  up  to  as  the  leading  general  of  the  defunct  Confed- 
eracy, tell  you  this,  now  a  spirit  constantly  gaining  the  rational 
light  of  a  true  sense  that  must  be  worked  out  through  my  con- 
dition in  the  future.  I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  com- 
munication and  will  bid  you  good  day. 


Harry  Symmes 

Chapter   XXX 


Monday,  March  30,  1903. 

Good  afternoon,  sir.  It  is  a  dull,  cloudy  day,  as  dull  and 
cloudy  as  my  brain  was  when  its  spirit  left  the  physical  body. 
It  was  I  that  brought  on  that  thirsty  condition  upon  your  little 
medium.  I  was  blazing  drunk  when  I  left  my  physical  body. 
When  I  came  in  contact  with  your  medium's  forces  I  wanted 
whiskey  and  lots  of  it.  The  medium's  band  asked  me  to  come 
here  and  give  a  communication,  I  being  well  acquainted  with 
your  medium  when  I  lived  in  a  physical  body.  I  asked  them  to 
grant  me  the  request  to  commence  it  on  the  30th  day  of  March; 
that  was  the  date  of  the  month  that  he  robbed  me  of  my  heart. 

Before  I  go  any  further  I  will  give  you  my  name.  It  was 
Harry  Symmes.  I  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Virginia.  At  the  age 
of  two  years  my  parents  went  to  live  in  Baltimore,  where  I  was 
brought  up.  Your  medium  knew  me  when  I  lived  under  the 
name  of  George  Perkins.  Then  I  played  in  the  same  company 
with  her — for  he  was  supposed  to  be  a  she  then— at  the  old 
Bowery  Theatre.  They  were  playing  "Robin  Hood."  She  and 
I  were  in  the  cast.  Then  she  was  known  to  the  public  as  the 
"Dashing  Blanchard."  She  sang,  danced  and  played  in  "Robin 
Hood."  An  actor,  whose  name  was  George  Thompson,  played 
Robin  Hood  :  I  was  playing  the  comedian  part.  I  fell  in  love 
with  the  "Dashing  Blanchard,"  and  she  led  me  a  clashing  dance. 
There  was  a  military  gentleman  that  accompanied  her  to  the 
theatre  in  the  evening  and  after  the  performance  was  over  es- 
corted her  t<>  her  home.  She  called  him  Papa  Warren,  and  I 
naturally  thought  he  was  her  father.  It  cost  me  a  large  part  of 
my  salary  to  furnish  him  with  the  best  quality  of  cigars,  I  think- 
ing at  the  same  time  I  was  going  to  get  his  daughter  for  a  wife, 


326         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

not  being  aware  that  there  was  any  male  nature  attached  to  the 
little  individual.  In  the  morning  I  always  received  a  gracious 
smile  from  her  ladyship.  In  the  evening  it  was  "Sweet  George, 
how  are  you  tonight?"  She  kissed  me  and  I  was  one  of  the  hap- 
piest men  in  Xew  York.  \Yhen  her  papa  came  for  her  I  handed 
him  a  cigar  with  a  wrapper  bearing  the  best  Cuban  brand.  I 
thought  some  day  I  must  tell  her  my  real  name. 

When  the  engagement  was  up,  or  in  other  words,  when  the 
piece  was  taken  off  the  boards,  I  proposed  marriage  to  her.  She 
laughed  and  said,  "You  Southern  gentlemen  are  such  flirts. 
\Yait  until  I  play  in  Baltimore ;  then  I  will  give  you  my  an- 
swer." I  never  received  it  in  Baltimore  or  anywhere  else. 

I  went  from  the  Bowery  Theatre  to  the  Chatham  Street 
Theatre,  playing  in  the  same  company  with  G.  L.  Fox  of  Humpty 
Dumpty  fame.  Four  years  afterward  the  war  broke  out  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South  and  I  became  a  Southern  spy. 
Every  once  in  a  while  I  would  play  an  engagement  with  a  va- 
riety troupe,  either  in  \Yashington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  or 
New  York — all  the  time  gaining  information  concerning  the 
Northern  army,  either  sending  it  or  taking  it  through  the  South- 
ern lines  myself.  I  was  very  much  interested  at  one  time  as  a 
good  Christian  missionary  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia.  I  became  very  zealous  in  the  work, 
especially  on  Sundays.  On  that  day  I  held  three  meetings — in 
the  forenoon,  afternoon  and  evening.  I  prayed  so  fervently 
with  those  terrible  Yankee  sinners  they  never  became  suspicious 
that  I  was  a  southerner.  One  day  during  one  of  the  week  day 
afternoon  meetings  I  noticed  there  were  many  women 
listening  to  me,  as  well  as  the  soldiers  and  negroes.  I  noticed 
a  little  girl  with  a  pink  frock  on  and  a  calico  bonnet.  Some- 
times she  would  take  it  off  and  hold  it  in  her  hand,  at  other 
times  she  would  put  it  on  and  smile  at  me.  I  thought  I'd  made 
a  mash,  sure.  There  I  was  passing  under  the  name  of  Black- 
well,  that  was  giving  my  time  and  money  to  help  the  sick  and 
save  their  souls  from  Hell.  During  my  leisure  moments  I  was 
getting  information  concerning  the  Union  army  and  its  where- 
abouts. 

At  twilight  one  evening  I  was  leaving  the  house  where  I 
boarded  ;  coming  towards  me  on  the  road  I  saw  the  little  girl 


HARRY  SYMMES 

with  the  pink  dress  and  calico  bonnet.  She  was  swinging  the 
bonnet  by  one  of  the  strings  in  her  hand.  When  she  got  in 
front  of  me  she  looked  up  into  my  face  and  laughed,  saying, 
"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Symmes?"  I  was  taken  off  my  guard; 
when  I  looked  into  those  eyes  I  said,  "Who  are  you,  that  knows 
my  real  name?"  She  laughed  and  said,  "I  am  Mabel  Wilson; 
don't  you  know  your  cousin?"  I  said,  "Why  Mabel,  darling,  I 
have  not  seen  you  since  you  were  four  years  old.  What  are  you 
doing  here  in  Norfolk?"  She  said,  "I  am  here  in  the  interest 
of  our  cause ;  so  are  you,  Harry."  I  threw  my  arms  around  her, 
kissed  and  hugged  her,  saying,  "You  are  a  little  heroine,  Mabel." 

Xow  I  must  tell  you  right  here  before  I  go  any  further,  that 
I  had  an  uncle  by  the  name  of  Wilson  that  lived  in  Norfolk,  Vir- 
ginia, and  he  had  four  daughters  and  one  of  their  names  was 
Mabel,  the  youngest  one.  I  was  thrown  so  completely  off  my 
guard  that  I  believed  all  she  said.  She  said,  "How  long  are  you 
going  to  preach  here?"  I  told  her  two  days  more,  as  I  had 
pretty  near  gained  all  the  information  that  I  required  at  the 
present  time.  I  said,  "Where  are  you  living,  Mabel?"  She  said, 
"I  am  boarding  at  the  house  of  an  old  lady  whose  name  is  Mrs. 
Pepper.  She  is  a  true  friend  to  our  cause.  She  passes  me  off 
as  her  niece  from  Richmond.  I  wil.l  attend  your  meeting  tonight 
in  company  with  an  old  negro,  as  Mrs.  Pepper  can't  go  out  on 
account  of  rheumatism.  After  your  meeting  is  over  walk  out 
the  road  about  two  miles  and  I  will  meet  you  there.  Over  at  a 
house  about  three  miles  from  there  is  a  family  by  the  name  of 
Slocum.  who  gives  a  dance  tonight  and  there  will  be  several  of 
the  Yankee  officers  present.  I  have  made  arrangements  to  have 
them  captured.  Throw  off  your  disguise  and  come  and  see  the 
fun."  1  went  that  night  and  met  her  at  the  place  designated. 
It  was  right  at  the  edge  of  a  piece  of  timber.  After  we  had 
talked  a  few  minutes  she  said,  "Let  us  go  in  here  and  rest  under 
the  trees  and  in  about  two  hours  we  will  see  our  bovs.  who  are 
going  to  capture  the  Yankee  officers,  go  past." 

\\  e  went  in  under  the  trees  and  sat  down.  I  taking  her  in 
my  arms  while  she  sang  for  me.  I  made  love  to  her  and  asked 
her  if  she  would  marry  me  when  the  war  was  over.  She  said 
she  would.  She  sang  me  several  pretty  songs.  During  the  time 
I  commenced  to  feel  drowsy,  or  sleepv  would  be  the  proper 


328         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

word.  She  said,  when  she  saw  my  head  nodding,  "We  will  lie 
down  here.  I  won't  go  to  sleep  but  you  can.  When  the  boys 
come  past  I  will  wake  you  up,  then  we  can  follow  and  see  the 
fun."  I  now  understand  why  I  went  to  sleep.  She  had  a  strong 
magnetic  current  that  she  threw  upon  me.  That  is  why  I  be- 
came sleepy. 

While  she  was  singing  I  held  in  my  hand  a  New  York  Her- 
ald that  I  had  received  from  an  officer  of  the  Union  army.  I 
had  it  in  my  pocket  and  had  just  taken  it  out  and  spread  it  on 
her  lap,  saying,  "Mabel,  you  can  read  that  tomorrow,"  when  all 
of  a  sudden  I  heard  a  peculiar  noise  on  the  paper.  It  sounded 
to  me  like  little  grains  of  sand  or  kernels  of  wheat  dropping  on 
the  paper.  I  said,  "Cousin  Mabel,  I  wonder  what  makes  that 
strange  noise  on  the  paper."  She  said,  "Oh,  it's  old  splithoof 
after  you.  He  wants  to  let  you  know  he  is  working  for  our 
cause."  Little  did  I  think  then  what  cause  she  meant.  After 
that  I  became  tired  and  went  to  sleep.  During  my  sleep  she 
drugged  me — that  is,  she  chloroformed  me.  I  did  not  return  to 
my  normal  condition  until  late  in  the  night  following.  She  had 
robbed  me  of  all  my  notes,  as  I  never  had  permitted  them  to 
leave  my  body.  She  took  my  watch  and  chain  and  a  plain  heavy 
gold  band  ring  that  I  wore  on  my  finger.  She  also  took  from 
around  my  neck  a  gold  chain  to  which  was  attached  a  large  gold 
medallion  locket  that  contained  a  portrait  of  herself,  painted  on 
ivory,  as  she  was  when  she  played  in  Robin  Hood.  I  got  her 
photograph  in  New  York,  gave  it  to  a  lady  artist,  who  copied 
it  on  ivory.  I  wore  it  around  my  neck,  thinking  some  day  we 
would  meet  again  and  she  would  become  my  wife.  Little  did  I  think 
at  the  time  that  I  was  holding  in  my  arms  the  coveted  prize,  the 
"Dashing  Blanchard."  She  had  freckles  on  her  face,  a  long 
braid  of  red  hair  hanging  down  her  back  and  spoke  in  the  south- 
ern dialect,  as  if  she  had  been  to  the  manor  born.  Her  disguise 
was  so  perfect  that  I  never  thought  I  was  talking  to  any  other 
than  my  cousin  Mabel.  We  never  met  again.  After  the  war 
was  over  I  went  to  Xew  Orleans,  following  my  profession  some- 
times and  at  other  times  speculating. 

I  passed  out  of  my  body  three  months  ago  in  Xew  Orleans  in 
an  intoxicated  condition  and  here  I  am  today  using  her  organ  of 
speech — or  his  if  you  choose  to  call  it  so. 


HARRY  SYMMES  329 

That  which  I  have  just  described  took  place  out  in  the 
suburbs  of  Fortress  Monroe,  in  the  month  of  June  on  a  Wed- 
nesday evening  in  1864. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  what  I  had  to  say  and  leave 
my  love  for  one  of  the  most  daring  spies  I  ever  heard  of.  She 
does  not  look  now,  lying  here,  as  the  gay,  young  and  alert 
"Dashing  Blanchard,"  but  is  now  an  old,  decrepit  piece  of  hu- 
manity waiting  for  the  spirit  to  take  its  flight  and  pass  before 
the  true  tribunal  of  Justice  which  none  of  us  can  escape.  I  will 
say  here  that  the  war  resulted  just  as  it  ought  to  have  done.  I 
was  young  then  and  thought  the  South  was  right.  My  father 
lost  a  fortune  by  the  war. 

I  was  with  the  stock  company  with  John  \Yilkes  Boothe, 
traveling  through  the  south.  \Yhen  the  medium's  company 
came  to  play  at  the  Holliday  Street  Theatre  in  Baltimore  they 
were  the  next  company  advertised  to  follow  ^"ilkes  Booth.  I, 
being  a  member  of  the  company.  "Wilkes  Booth  and  myself 
dressed  in  the  same  room.  \Yhile  there  I  received  a  letter  from 
my  uncle  addressed  to  me  on  the  envelope  as  George  Perkins. 
Inside  of  the  letter  my  uncle  addressed  me  as  his  dear  nephew, 
Harry  Symmes.  In  this  letter  he  described  his  family  and  espe- 
cially his  youngest  daughter  Mabel,  wishing  that  I  might  be 
able  to  come  and  make  them  a  visit.  The  medium  discovered 
the  letter  sticking  out  from  behind  the  looking-glass  and  through 
that  letter  he  learned  my  real  name  and  also  the  names  of  my 
uncle's  familv.  Good  clav.  Harrv  Svmmes. 


Helen  Howard 

Chapter   XXXI 


Friday,  April  24,  1903. 

Good  morning,  friend.  I  did  not  come  to  talk  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living.  AYe  are  all  living  entities  in  life  on  both  sides 
of  the  question.  You  are  spiritual  and  I  am  spiritual.  You  live 
in  a  physical  body,  from  which  I  have  been  released.  So  you  see 
we  are  brothers  and  sisters  in  the  work  which  deals  with  the 
great  race  called  the  children  of  men. 

A  great  many  people  speak  of  the  power  of  life,  which  is  a 
brilliant  idea  when  properly  understood.  You  in  a  physical 
body,  as  an  investigator,  while  I  in  a  spiritual  body,  are  twin 
thoughts  of  the  great  creation  which  is  called  the  Universe. 
Xow,  what  is  the  Universe?  It  is  something  we  do  not  under- 
stand. \Ye  can  talk  of  millions  of  planets,  constellations,  sat- 
ellites and  orbs.  We  can  give  expression  to  the  great  thought 
of  Life,  but  we  cannot  define  the  Universe.  This  great  idea  of 
Universe  to  our  feeble  minds  is  beyond  our  comprehension.  The 
Universe  is  the  "Soul  of  Things";  we  are  part  of  that  soul.  That 
soul  is  unified  in  all  Life.  The  expression  of  the  Soul  is  the 
breath  of  the  Universe.  Some  of  the  learned  savants  in  Life 
speak  of  soul  measure  and  soul  entities,  soul  degrees  and  soul 
vibrations.  There  are  many  in  existence  that  have  highly  de- 
veloped minds :  they  have  gained  a  great  deal  of  knowledge 
through  re-embodiment  on  your  mundane  sphere,  but  they  can- 
not measure  the  soul  ;  that  is  an  utter  impossibility.  They  can 
divine  that  which  comes  from  the  soul,  but  through  the  lack  of 
that  great  "Wisdom  that  no  one  has  yet  attained,  they  are  still — 
as  it  were — in  a  certain  kind  of  servitude  through  which  they  are 
trying  to  gain  knowledge.  The  aspiration  that  individual  minds 
speak  of  is  a  detective  searching  out  and  trying  to  divine  soul 
measure,  but  as  they  have  failed  in  that  principle  they  take  up 
imperial  psychological  thoughts  through  which  they  hope  to 


HELEN  HOWARD  331 

gain  the  inner  light  of  soul  action.  There  is  a  line  or  course  of 
study  laid  out  for  the  human  race,  the  divinity  of  which  is  self- 
culture.  By  cultivating  the  mind  they  draw  unto  themselves 
cultivated  thoughts  from  out  the  depths  of  Wisdom.  Wisdom 
is  a  great  power  in  civilization  ;  that  power  draws  them  nearer 
to  the  exalted  divine  condition  that  radiates  from  the  soul. 

When  the  human  mind  becomes  governed  through  intellect 
on  a  high  plane  of  Divinity  all  wars  and  strife  will  cease.  The 
thought  of  "I  am  greater  than  thou"  will  be  banished  through 
the  open  door  of  Wisdom.  The  powers  that  are  grasping  the 
great  manifestations  of  the  human  mind  are  the  divining  rods 
of  sensibility.  When  those  who  live  in  the  physical  body  and 
those  who  live  on  the  spirit  side  of  life  will  come  to  a  satis- 
factory understanding  of  Harmony,  infdelity  will  cease  to  exist ; 
it  will  be  utterly  impossible  for  the  materialistic  condition  in 
Life  to  have  any  foothold  on  a  planet  where  Harmony  would 
reign.  Perhaps  you  would  ask  me  how  we  can  reach  that  per- 
fect state  of  Harmony.  Simply  by  letting  that  great  light  that 
exists  in  the  Soul  govern  and  direct  all  conditions  on  this  planet. 
The  innovator  has  a  chance  to  gain  that  purity  of  mind  as  well 
as  he  who  thinks  he  is  Godlike.  The  true  expression  of  Godlike 
is  to  become  human  and  grow  through  that  great  luxurious 
growth  of  wealth,  called  the  growth  of  the  higher  Intellect.  All 
possibilities  are  ours  when  we  understand  that  mental  expres- 
sion called  the  "True  Life":  then  Gods  will  learn  to  become  wise 
and  walk  in  Wisdom's  ways.  They  will  throw  off  that  gross  hu- 
man condition  that  gave  them  confidence  to  speak  to  the  multi- 
tude, "I  am  He  that  knows  all  and  only  through  me  can  perfec- 
tion come."  Poor,  ignorant,  superstitious  and  deluded  minds, 
puffed  up  with  the  vanity  of  the  world's  growth,  forgetting  at 
the  same  time  that  the  world's  growth  is  a  constant  growth  of 
immortality  that  brings  to  all  souls  alike — did  they  but  under- 
stand it — the  light  of  Knowledge  which  in  time  will  banish 
from  the  face  of  the  earth  the  God  idea. 

The  purity  of  the  mind,  through  the  embellishment  of  the 
Soul  has  gained  an  understanding  of  the  Law  of  Reason.  The 
Law  of  Reason  will  elevate  the  human  mind  in  time  to  under- 
stand that  the  infinite  part  of  the  Soul  is  the  great  principle  of 
all  Life,  unified  throughout  all  time  in  that  "Teat  S<>ul  which  is 


332         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

the  generator  and  creator -of  the  Law  of  Evolution.  Solar  Bi- 
ology in  time  will  give  to  the  higher  Intellect  a  reminiscence 
of  the  past  and  a  consolation  of  the  future  which  means  eternity 
in  the  higher  growth  of  unification  whereby  mental  thought  will 
lay  bare  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future  to  the  minds  of  those 
searching  for  the  higher  light.  Wisdom's  religion,  which  in 
time  the  lower  Intellect  will  understand,  is  one  with  that  great 
divine  Soul,  the  creator  of  all  planets.  The  true  Messiah  to  the 
human  race  is  Reason  that  constantly  comes  en  rapport  with 
perfect  knowledge.  The  infinitude  of  Thought  is  an  exhalation 
or  outgrowth  of  the  divine  principle  that  comes  from  the  higher 
soul  to  the  children  of  men,  as  we  live  and  understand  that  we 
are  creatures  placed  here  on  this  planet  to  gain  that  perfect 
knowledge.  If  we  fail  in  the  several  embodiments  we  must  con- 
stantly go  on  in  the  path  of  Life  bearing  that  burden  that  re- 
creates through  Wisdom's  laws  and  brings  forth  the  expression 
"Eureka"  (I  have  found  it.)  That  will  show  to  the  intellectual 
mind  of  the  higher  growth  he  has  a  weak  knowledge  of  the  life 
lines  of  Nature.  Perspicuity  must  be  understood  and  unravelled, 
out  of  which  from  its  very  depths  must  come  a  light  which  will 
verberate  in  the  whole  aspects  of  its  surroundings. 

It  is  only  those  that  sit  quiet,  meditate  and  divine  holy 
things  that  gain  this  light  that  is  working  through  the  whole 
human  mind.  When  their  reasoning  power  becomes  illuminated 
then  they  commence  to  understand,  "I  am  He  that  was ;  I  am 
She  that  is  and  we  will  both  be  through  all  time,  the  Omniscient 
power  of  Love  unified  in  the  great  eternal  Soul  creation  which 
says  to  all  planets,  'There  are  no  other  Gods  but  me.'  I  am  the 
Light  of  the  Sun  and  hold  all  electric  power  within  my  breath 
which  I  breathe  upon  the  planets.  I  have  permitted  my  breath 
to  pass  over  your  earth  planet  from  which  you  have  made  the 
discovery  of  electric  motion.  It  has  electrified  the  mind  in  order 
that  they  may  grasp  it  and  utilize  it,  through  which  it  will  man- 
ifest through  the  command  of  man  and  display  its  power  to  the 
ignorant  walking  on  the  lower  plane  of  Life."  The  great  elec- 
tric motion  is  the  Soul  speaking  to  the  human  race.  The  human 
mind  is  only  in  its  babyhood  of  electrical  discover}' :  as  the  reas- 
oning power  develops  in  man,  so  will  the  electric  condition  of 
all  the  embodiments  of  the  Soul  become  plainer  to  that  inner 


HELEN  HOWARD  333 

sense  located  in  manhood,  which  will  give  an  outer  expression 
of  creation  held  by  the  great  forces  of  the  mind  expressing  and 
defining  itself  in  the  higher  growth  of  Wisdom. 

If  one  is  wise  he  has  the  love  at  heart  of  the  whole  human 
race,  and  with  that  Soul  power  that  is  constantly  furnishing  him 
with  knowledge,  divines  that  great  light  that  always  has  been 
and  will  forever  be  the  torch  bearer  of  Truth.  The  only  God. 
or  personal  God  that  the  human  race  will  ever  have  is  the  God 
of  Truth.  Not  the  Jehovah  of  the  Jews  whose  name  is  a  dis- 
grace to  the  higher  intellect,  that  which  is  constantly  being  col- 
lected by  the  children  of  men. 

You  who  live  in  physical  bodies  speak  of  Religion  as  if  it 
were  a  wise  and  holy  saying.  There  is  no  Religion  that  can  give 
to  you  the  manifestation  of  the  soul's  individuality.  Xo  priest, 
minister  or  teacher  has  that  power — it  is  an  inner  growth  de- 
veloped only  through  consciousness  that  you  are  a  part  of  that 
great  Soul.  \Yhen  you  have  divined  that,  that  great  Light  of 
Truth  which  lives  within  vou  will  produce  an  aspiration  to  the 
mind  which  is  far  superior  to  any  so  named  religions.  That 
aspiration  will  produce  you  a  guide  saying.  "Come  up  higher." 

In  the  mansions  of  Truth  are  many  schools  and  grades  of 
education.  \Yhen  you  have  discovered  the  infinitude  of  a  sun- 
beam, then  you  are  commencing  to  realize  what  the  divinity  of 
the  Soul  is.  It  is  an  inward  and  outward  expression  taught  to 
you  by  that  teacher  sunbeam. 

Men  and  women  constantly  claim  we  live  under  the  Holy 
Trinity  and  understand  its  workings.  It  is  three  in  one.  the 
Father,  Son  and  IIolv  Ghost,  from  whom  comes  all  Life.  Poor, 
deluded  minds,  falsely  educated  through  the  power  ot  priest- 
craft. 'All  Life  comes  from  the  great  unified  Soul,  and  we  are 
entities,  unified  in  that  Soul,  because  we  are  the  expression  of 
that  which  comes  from  the  great  Soul,  which  is  the  womb  of 
all  Life.  \Ye  are  fortified,  did  we  but  understand  it.  through  the 
law  ot  lite  and  the  power  of  Evolution  and  Involution  that  knows 
no  Trinity — throe  in  one.  The  great  Soul  has  only  one  expres- 
sion, and  we  are  the  outgrowth  of  that  expression.  That  is  why 
we  have  such  a  variety  of  expressions  in  lite  coming  from  the 
great  soul  of  expression.  Expressions  are  constantly  filling  hu- 
man embodiments  and  through  that  expression  they  gain  earthly 


334        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

knowledge.  As  AVC  grasp  a  simple  understanding  of  Infinitude, 
we  are  gaining  in  knowledge  which  re-creates  expression. 

There  comes  from  knowledge  a  power  of  Intellect,  a  con- 
stant development  of  innate  sense  and  through  that  innate  sense 
we  acknowledge  ourselves  to  the  world  as  individuals  that  have 
taken  up  the  law  of  Morality  and  Love  for  the  kingdom  that 
sometime  we  will  gain  through  our  senses.  The  outpouring  of 
that  part  of  the  Soul  that  dwells  within  us  will  give  us  an  un- 
derstanding that  we  are  greater  than  any  religion  that  is  manu- 
factured or  prescribed  through  priestcraft,  to  undeveloped  minds 
who  have  not  yet  gained  the  knowledge  or  power  to  define 
"True  Life"  through  Wisdom's  law.  There  is  a  chalice  bearer 
that  comes  to  the  human  heart:  It  is  constantly  filled  with  in- 
cense of  natural  Love.  It  may  be  crushed  for  a  time  through 
the  brutality  of  a  low,  depraved  nature,  but  it  will  rise  again 
and  assert  its  rights  because  it  comes  from  the  womb  of  great 
mother  Nature  and  demands  a  place  in  the  human  heart  of  men 
and  women. 

Oh,  think  of  it,  friends.  \Ye  are  the  Light  and  Life  of  the 
great  Sun.  for  that  Sun  is  an  embellishment  of  Truth  thrown  off 
from  the  great  Soul  of  Nature.  Can  we  eradicate  Death?  Yes, 
by  living  the  True  Life  and  studying  the  laws  of  Wisdom,  the 
great  Law  that  has  given  to  our  planet  perpetual  life,  can  de- 
stroy Death  through  the  purification  of  our  part  of  the  great 
Soul.  When  we  have  purified  that  part  and  are  one  in  Life 
with  the  great  Soul  and  can  lace  the  womb  of  nature  purified 
throughout  and  all  our  aspects  are  those  of  Glory,  then  we  have 
conquered  Death.  How  have  we  conquered  Death?  Because 
there  is  no  power  in  the  law  of  Wisdom  to  compel  us  to  pass 
through  the  dark  shadow  called  Death.  The  Soul  has  become 
illuminated  through  all  principles  in  Nature  then  and  we  are 
deified  in  all  Life.  The  time  will  come  when  the  human  ex- 
pression will  conquer  that  shadow  called  Death.  No  thought  of 
oblivion  will  be  heard  then,  all  has  become  the  True  Life,  as  it 
always  was  that  True  Life  required  a  development  by  taking 
on  a  physical  body,  for  when  once  it  has  gained  the  ascendency 
over  physical  life  it  becomes  one  and  united  in  the  great  Love 
of  the  over  soul  called  Deity  bv  the  human  mind.  A  creation  is 
a  thought  out  of  space:  space  being  the  eternal  Soul  of  Nature 


HELEN  HOWARD  335 

knows  no  such  thing1  as  Death,  when  this  physical  body  that 
you  of  earth  live  in  becomes  a  burden  to  infinitude. 

There  is  a  causation  produced  by  the  infinite  part  that  com- 
pels a  dark  shadow  to  overpower  the  physical  part  of  your  con- 
dition which  sloughs  off  from  the  higher  element  of  your  na- 
ture, which  is  spiritual,  the  dark  shadow  you  call  the  expression 
of  Death,  but  there  is  no  such  thing  as  Death,  it  is  only  the  sep- 
aration of  darkness  from  Light ;  Light  being  the  highest  power 
it  annuls  the  dark  shadow  and  that  causes  separation.  Dark- 
ness or  the  physical  element  belongs  to  the  mineral  and  earthly 
conditions  of  Nature.  Light  is  the  great  power  and  element 
that  lights  up  the  mind  or  higher  intellect  and  belongs  to  the 
universal  soul,  which  knows  no  such  shadow  as  Death.  As  this 
planet  has  passed  from  out  its  dark  condition  into  Light  it  has 
become  a  culmination  of  Truth  whereby  it  never  can  know  dark- 
ness again.  That  part  that  you  call  Death  is  only  the  transition 
from  the  grosser  to  the  spiritual. 

There  is  a  generosity  in  Nature  that  brightens  up  all  con- 
ditions. \Yhen  the  spirit  has  parted  from  the  shadow  it  discov- 
ers a  greater  Light  than  it  ever  understood  before.  \Yhen  a 
spirit  has  a  desire  to  take  on  re-embodiment  it  selects  a  condi- 
tion that  has  more  Truth  and  Life  in  it  than  the  previous  one 
that  it  had  lived  in  before.  That  is  why  you  find  such  exalted 
minds  as  Blavatsky,  Leadbeater,  Besant,  Moses  Hull,  Cora 
Richmond  and  others.  They  in  past  human  embodiments  de- 
stroyed the  shadow,  understanding  eternal  affinity.  The  load 
they  carry  of  the  present  human  embodiment  is  much  lighter 
than  the  one  they  had  previous  to  this  condition  :  that  is  why 
their  minds  have  become  illuminated  with  spirituality,  under- 
standing the  astral  plane,  they  bring  those  that  they  come  en 
rapport  with  on  to  a  higher  plane  of  individuality.  That  indi- 
viduality is  a  high  expression  of  Soul  growth,  therefore  they 
could  not  produce  anything  to  the  reading  public  only  that 
which  is  moral  and  elevating  to  the  intellect  of  those  living  in 
human  embodiments.  Thev  can  teach  them  soul  growth  but 
they  have  no  understanding  of  soul  measure,  that  is  yet  beyond 
their  comprehension.  Truth,  being  the  torch  bearer  of  Light, 
gives  to  them  a  >oul  expression  which  will  abide  with  them  for 
all  time. 


336        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Xo\v  I  will  relate  to  you  some  of  my  earth  experience  in 
my  last  embodiment.  I  was  the  daughter  of  wealthy  parents. 
I  was  sent  away  to  a  ladies'  seminary  to  get  polishing  in  order 
that  I  might  make  my  debut  into  fashionable  society.  While 
at  that  polishing  institution  called  a  ladies'  seminary  I  became 
infatuated  with  a  male  student  belonging  to  the  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity. He  claimed  that  I  was  his  ideal  of  womanhood  and 
that  he  loved  no  one  but  me.  He  said  that  would  be  impossi- 
ble, as  I  was  a  regular  Juno  and  held  all  the  qualities  of  woman- 
hood for  him.  He  tempted  me  by  much  fiatterv  that  he  be- 
stowed upon  my  vanity.  I  fell  a  victim  to  his  wiles  and  became 
a  mother,  not  inside  of  the  pale  of  wedlock.  He  deserted  me  to 
my  fate  and  I  became  an  abandoned  woman,  losing  all  faith  in 
God,  man  and  the  human  race.  One  night  in  Washington,  D.C., 
I  was  escorted  to  a  theatre  by  a  United  States  officer.  When 
returning  from  the  theatre  we  were  confronted  by  a  woman 
who  claimed  to  be  his  wife.  She  upbraided  him  for  his  neglect 
to  her.  She  struck  me  in  the  face  and  I  fell  into  the  doorway 
of  a  store.  When  I  came  to  consciousness  this  medium  was 
holding  my  head  and  bathing  my  face  with  cold  water  that  he 
procured  from  a  tin  pail  which  a  negress  held  in  her  hand.  I 
looked  at  him  and  said.  "Who  are  you,  and  why  am  I  here  in 
this  condition?"  He  said.  "As  I  was  walking  towards  the  hotel 
I  saw  you  lying  in  this  doorway  and  knew  something  was  wrong. 
I  raised  your  head  but  you  could  not  speak.  The  black  woman 
was  passing  by.  I  hailed  her  and  told  her  if  she  would  bring 
me  some  cold  water  I  would  pay  her  for  her  trouble.  Xow  who 
are  you,  and  what  are  you  doing  here  with  all  this  blood  on 
your  face?"  Then  it  came  back  to  me  how  I  had  been  struck 
by  that  woman  and  knocked  down.  I  told  him  all.  He  said, 
"Where  is  your  home?"  I  told  him  I  had  no  home  now.  I  only 
lodged  in  a  house  with  other  vile  characters  like  myself.  He 
said.  "You  must  not  return  to  such  a  place  as  that.  Perhaps 
this  black  woman  will  find  you  lodgings  for  a  time  until  I  can 
see  what  can  be  done  for  you.  You  have  the  making  of  a  good 
woman  in  yon,  but  T  see  it  all  before  me  very  plain.  You 
were  ruined  by  a  villain  to  whom  you  confided  that  which  is 
dearest  to  a  woman,  but  you  must  remember  you  are  a  child  of 
God's  and  there  is  always  redemption  waiting  for  His  children." 


HELEN  HOWARD  337 

He  said  to  the  black  woman,  "What  can  you  do  for  her?"  She 
said  she  would  take  me  to  her  own  home  until  things  changed 
for  the  better.  With  his  assistance  and  the  black  woman's  I 
reached  her  home  where  I  remained  until  I  discovered  what  a 
wretch  I  had -become.  He  provided  for  me  the  necessary  ex- 
penses required  for  my  condition. 

To  cut  a  long  story  of  woe  short,  I  became  a  different  wo- 
man. I  found  my  child  and  we  went  to  live  in  a  private  home 
where  in  time  the  master  of  the  house  became  a  widower.  He 
made  me  his  wife  by  marrying  me.  I  bore  him  five  children. 
I  leave  my  love  for  the  medium  and  thank  you  for  taking  down 
my  communication.  My  maiden  name  was  Helen  Howard.  I 
will  bid  you  good  day. 


Charles  Reed 

Chapter  XXXII 


Friday,  June  5,  1903. 

Good  morning,  Mr.  Hulburd.  There  may  be  such  a  thing 
that  you  do  not  remember  me,  but  I  remember  you.  My  name 
when  living  in  a  physical  body  was  Charles  Reed.  I  met  you 
in  Chicago  during  the  Knights  Templar  Conclave.  If  you  re- 
member there  were  several  hot  days  during  that  time.  I  was 
introduced  to  you  by  a  gentleman  from  McPherson,  Kansas,  at 
the  Grand  Pacific. 

You  are  going  to  have  a  close,  warm  day  on  this  present 
occasion.  At  one  time  this  morning  we  thought  we  would  wake 
you  up  at  five  o'clock  while  it  was  yet  cool  in  order  that  I  might 
give  my  communication.  Rosa,  the  Indian  girl,  said,  "Xo,  brave, 
you  can't  do  that.  Brave  Hubbum  has  to  get  plenty  sleep."  I 
do  not  give  it  to  you  just  as  she  said  it  in  her  Indian  way.  but 
you  have  the  substance  of  our  conversation. 

I  come  here  today  by  request  of  a  spirit :  when  living  in  the 
physical  body  he  bore  the  name  of  \Yilliam  Denton.  a  geologist 
that  had  quite  a  reputation.  He  made  the  discovery  that  I  was 
acquainted  with  Little  Puss  when  living  in  a  physical  body.  He 
accompanied  me  here  to  your  home.  I  was  acquainted  with 
Little  Puss  in  the  early  days  of  the  California  Theatre  on  Bush 
street  above  Kearney,  San  Francisco.  California.  At  that  time 
I  was  dresser  for  the  tragedian.  John  McCulloch.  Little  Puss 
opened  in  a  musical  corned}' — that  is — it  was  a  larce  corned}'. 
I  think  the  name  of  the  farce  comedy  was  "Slasher  and  Crasher." 
At  that  time  he  was  the  greatest  burlesque  artist  I  had  ever 
seen.  His  acting  and  dancing  made  him  the  feature  of  the  com- 
pany— that  is,  he  was  the  drawing  card.  I  remember  how  John 
McCulloch  would  stand  in  the  wings  and  hold  a  white  lace  shawl 
that  she  wore  in  the  piece,  lie  would  say  to  me.  "Charley,  that's 
the  little  comet  of  this  age."  After  I  became  a  comedian  of 


CHARLES  REED  339 

some  fame,  I  played  an  engagement  at  Hooley's  Theatre,  Chi- 
cago, in  the  comedy,  "Who  is  the  Man?"  Little  Puss  played 
the  soubrette  part.  I  did  not  think  then,  while  I  was  kissing 
and  hugging  her  and  holding  her  in  a  loving  embrace  that  I  was 
holding  the  private  spy  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  that  grand  spirit 
of  the  age.  I  discovered  that  Little  Puss  was  a  high  strung  in- 
dividual and  had  what  the  world  would  call  a  bad  temper.  I 
remember  on  a  Friday  morning  while  we  were  rehearsing  a  new 
farce  comedy  called  the  ''Lover's  Vow,"  Mr.  Stevens,  who  wrote 
the  piece,  was  directing  the  rehearsal.  He  said  something  to 
Little  Puss  which  I  did  not  hear ;  whatever  it  was  that  he  said 
it  did  not  please  his  little  Highness.  He  broke  forth  in  a  torrent 
of  oaths,  and  I  thought  if  ever  a  theatrical  company  would  have 
an  invitation  to  enter  the  drawing  room  of  hell,  it  was  that  mor- 
ning. While  the  condition  was  going  on  some  one  went  to  the 
box  office  for  Mr.  Hooley.  Mr.  Hooley  came  down  the  main 
aisle,  mounted  the  steps  at  the  side  of  the  orchestra,  which 
brought  him  up  on  the  stage.  He  said,  "Good  people, 
good  people,  what  is  the  matter  here?"  Mr.  Stevens  stood  near 
the  footlights  looking  like  a  pale  ghost.  He  trembled  so  he 
could  not  speak.  He  raised  his  hand,  pointed  to  Little  Puss, 
who  threw  his  hat  at  him,  saying.  "Get  out,  you  galoot."  Miss 
Davis  laughed  so  she  had  to  sit  down  on  a  chair.  I  said,  "Oh, 
Miss  Davis,  how  can  you  laugh  in  that  way?"  She  said,  "Char- 
ley, I'm  accustomed  to  hearing  thas  once  in  a  while.  I've  played 
off  and  on  for  the  last  three  years  in  the  same  company  with 
Puss,  and  a  better  and  more  generous  little  creature  never  lived, 
but  he  will  take  none  of  those  authors'  airs,  and  as  you  see.  Mr. 
Stevens  has  made  that  discovery  this  morning." 

Mr.  Hooley  sat  down  on  a  chair  that  was  placed  for  him 
near  a  table.  He  said.  "Xow  come.  Puss,  tell  me  how  this  all 
happened."  Puss  pointed  towards  Mr.  Stevens,  saying.  "That 
giraffe  there  had  the  audacity  to  tell  me  that  I  didn't  understand 
stage  business."  Mr.  Hooley  laughed  and  said.  "If  you  don't.  T 
would  like  to  know  who  does,  for  you  have  never  known  any- 
thing else  but  stage  life,  as  far  as  I  know."  Addressing  Mr. 
Stevens  he  said,  "Hand  me  that  manuscript."  After  Mr.  Stevens 
had  handed  him  the  manuscript  Mr.  Hooley  said,  "Xow.  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  take  your  positions  and  we  will  proceed  with 


340         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

rehearsal/'  In  the  comedy,  or  I  should  say,  in  that  scene  of  the 
comedy,  Puss  plays  a  character  called  Mattie.  .  She  is  a  very 
wilful  girl  and  will  have  her  own  way.  She  runs  in  through  a 
garden  gate,  throws  herself  into  my  arms,  and  placing  her  hands 
around  my  neck,  laughs  hilariously ;  it  is  a  kind  of  hysterical 
laugh.  At  night  she'd  get  the  audience  to  laughing.  While  I 
held  her  in  my  arms  I  got  to  laughing,  too.  It  was  catching  and 
all  the  characters  in  that  scene  got  to  laughing.  I  thought  to 
myself  while  I  was  holding  him,  "Good  God,  is  this  the  person 
that  cursed  so  fifteen  minutes  ago?"  There  is  a  village  dance 
takes  place  in  that  scene,  led  off  by  Little  Puss  and  myself. 
While  we  were  dancing  around  Air.  Stevens  stood  with  his  back 
towards  us,  leaning  with  one  hand  on  a  table,  at  the  same  time 
talking  to  Air.  Hooley.  As  we  danced  around  on  that  side  and 
before  I  knew  it  Little  Puss  kicked  Air.  Stevens  on  his  back 
anatomy,  landing  him  in  Air.  Hooley's  lap.  The  uproar  of 
laughter  became  so  great  that  the  musicians  in  the  orchestra 
could  not  play  with  any  effect,  so  we  had  to  stop  until  we  could 
get  our  composure.  Air.  Hooley  laughed  so  I  thought  he'd  go 
into  a  fit.  Air.  Alorrison,  the  leader  of  the  orchestra,  said,  "Xowr, 
Puss,  quit  your  funny  business  until  we  get  through  rehearsal." 
When  the  company  had  quieted  down  Air.  Stevens  pointed 
at  Puss,  saying,  "That  imp  there  is  a  devil  out  of  hell,  if  there 
ever  was  one."  Air.  Hooley  said,  "Air.  Stevens,  you  sit  down 
on  this  chair  here,  where  I  think  perhaps  you  will  be  safe,  if  you 
attend  to  your  P's  and  Q's."  Air.  Hooley  then  said,  "Xovv,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  try  that  dance  over  again."  I  noticed  Air.  Hooley 
stood  between  the  dancers  and  Air.  Stevens.  He  told  me  after 
rehearsal,  "Little  Puss  is  as  quick  as  lightning  with  his  feet. 
You  sec,  Air.  Reed,  I  understand  him  and  he  is  one  of  the  easiest 
persons  in  the  world  to  get  along  with  if  you  do  what's  right, 
but  he  will  stand  no  scollops  from  any  of  these  writers  of  plays. 
He  has  played  for  me  a  number  of  years  and  all  the  comedians 
say  that  he  is  the  best  support  they  ever  found  in  the  soubrette 
line.  It  was  only  a  week  ago  that  John  Hart  told  me  he  is  worth 
his  weight  in  gold."  His  comedy  acting  in  "That  Husband  of 
Aline''  was  something  grand  to  look  at.  As  time  went  on  I 
realized  that  Air.  Hooley  had  spoken  the  truth.  I  also  discov- 
ered that  Puss  was  a  strange  being.  He  could  laugh  and  cry 


CHARLES  REED  341 

almost  in  the  same  breath.  Before  I  opened  at  Mr.  Hooley's 
theatre  in  Chicago  I  met  Charley  Thome  on  Broadway,  Xe\v 
York.  He  said,  "Reed,  where  is  your  next  date?"  I  said,  "At 
Hooley's,  Chicago."  He  laughed  and  said,  "You'll  find  a  little 
daisy  there  to  play  with,  but  a  tartar  if  you  cross  her.  I  always 
call  it  her  because  it's  more  woman  than  man.  I  think  her  neck 
and  arms  are  something  beautiful  to  look  at.  They  come  out 
of  a  perfect  mould.  Her  face  from  the  front  has  the  look  of  a 
Greek  goddess,  to  me.  I  played  with  her  once  for  old  Jackson's 
benefit  at  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre,  Philadelphia,  and  I  think 
of  all  the  tomboy  girls  that  I  ever  saw  impersonated  on  the  stage, 
she  played  one  to  perfection.  Reed,  I  was  fascinated.  I  do  not 
believe  it  is  a  male.  I  think  she  likes  to  live  in  male  attire  in 
the  day  time.  Those  eyes,  hands  and  feet  were  never  intended 
for  a  male.  Possibly  you  know  there  has  been  all  kinds  of  ru- 
mors and  stories  about  the  sex.  While  she  was  playing  in  Eng- 
land they  had  to  get  the  police  to  guard  the  stage  door,  there 
were  so  many  men  in  waiting  to  see  her  come  out  of  the  stage 
entrance".  In  the  sleeping  car  between  Jersey  City  and  Chi- 
cago I  made  the  acquaintance  of  George  Knight,  who  went  as 
far  as  Pittsburg.  He  told  me  that  he  was  the  next  star  at 
Hooley's.  He  said,  "I  long  to  play  again  with  Little  Puss.  He 
was  the  best  Lena  I  ever  had  in  my  German  farce.  Give  him 
my  love  and  tell  him  to  be  in  good  trim  when  I  get  there.  I 
have  a  fine  part  for  him  in  my  new  comedy."  He  opened  his 
satchel,  and  taking  out  a  nice  photograph  of  himself  he  wrote 
on  the  back  with  an  indelible  pencil,  "To  my  loving  little  friend 
Puss,  from  his  loving  and  well-wisher  always,  George  Knight. 
I  have  saved  this  picture  for  you,  as  I  know  you  like  to  look  on 
George's  face  once  in  a  while ;  place  this  in  the  rack  of  photo- 
graphs that  you  have  received  from  your  other  friends." 

There  is  a  great  deal  that  I  could  tell  concerning  his  life, 
lie  was  looked  upon  as  a  peculiar  creature  by  the  profession. 
He  was  one  that  lived  in  a  sphere  of  emotion,  controlled  In- 
spirit power.  I  am  glad  that  he  has  lived  so  long  in  the  physical 
body.  \Yhen  the  work  goes  before  the  reading  public  they  will 
be  surprised  to  know  how  much  a  natural  born  medium  passes 
through  during  their  physical  embodiment.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  spirits  with  me  here  today  and  they  leave  their  love  for 


342         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Little  Puss.  It  would  take  up  a  large  space  in  printed  matter 
to  give  their  names.  Agnes  Ethel  says  she  knew  all  the  time 
Little  Justin  was  a  medium.  When  I  saw  the  Little  One  last 
his  body  had  not  spread  out  as  it  is  today.  The  dropsy  is  a 
dreadful  disease  as  it  spreads  over  the  whole  anatomy  of  a  hu- 
man frame.  This  is  a  quiet  place  for  him  to  live  in,  in  order  to 
give  this  work  to  the  public. 

I  leave  my  love  for  Little  Justin.  Tell  him  he  is  "Wander- 
ing Home."  Just  think  of  it,  here  he  is  in  his  75th  year.  When 
I  saw  him  last  I  did  not  think  he  would  live  five  years.  It  is 
through  the  power  of  the  spirit  that  I  feel  he  has  been  kept  in 
the  body  for  a  work.  I  passed  from  my  physical  body  in  Bos- 
.ton,  Mass.  I  was  known  to  the  theatrical  profession  as  Charley 
Reed.  I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication. 

The  next  spirit  that  will  follow  me  will  be  Billy  Emerson  of 
minstrel  fame.  He  and  I  were  great  friends  while  living  in  the 
physical  body.  I  thank  you  again  and  bid  you  good  day. 


November  7,  1889. 

Oh,  papa,  and  mamma,  I  have  something  to  say, 
Now  don't  think  I  am  going  to  lecture  or  pray. 
Perhaps  you  will  be  surprised  at  what  I  am  going  to  say. 
Grandma  Judson  says  she  is  tired  of  play 
And  is  going  to  work  for  she  feels  that  way, 
For  now  is  the  hour  and  the  very  day. 

Grandpa  Judson  says  it  is  woman's  talk, 

She  says  it  won't  be  like  lots  of  men,  to  melt  like  chalk. 

I  have  got  the  power  and  now  I  am  going  to  talk, 

So  those  that  don't  like  it  can  just  walk. 

You  will  find  in  womans'  suffrage  I  am  no  gawk 

For  I  can  give  it  to  them  without  any  squawk. 

Grandpa  Chappel  says  go  it  old  lady, 

To  help  you  out  in  this  I  am  ready. 

Keep  up  a  brave  heart,  then  you  will  be  steady, 

I  know  Otis  will  join  you  when  you  are  ready, 

For  he,  himself,  is  rather  steady, 

So  let  us  stump  it   like  John    Reddy. 


CHARLES  REED  343 

Then  Grandma  Chappel  says,  I  like  that, 

For  some  men  have  only  looked  on  woman  as  a  bat. 

Now  as  to  intellect  we  will  show  them  we  do  not  lack, 

It  would  do  them  good  if  a  few  got  a  whack. 

I  think  as  to  progression  some  of  their  skulls  are  cracked. 

Their  egotism  before  this  should  have  been  sacked. 

Then  Grandpa  laughed  enough  almost  to  kill, 

And  says,  my  dear,  you  are  just  after  my  will. 

So  let  our  thoughts  some  day  a  newspaper  fill. 

Charley  says  to  help  you  I  have  got  the  will, 

When  Grandma  says  then  we  will  give  them  their  fill. 

Grandpa  J  ml  son  says,  that  will  suit  our  will. 

I  tell  you  we  held  a  regular  conference  for  awhile, 

When  Charley  burst  out  in  a  broad  smile 

And  says,  we  can  beat  Gladstone  and  Carlisle. 

Grandma  Judson  says,  we  are  going  to  make  some  of  them  rile, 

And  perhaps  some  of  them  will  also  bile, 

For  I  feel  just  now  like  a  sharp  file. 

Then  we  all  clapped  our  hands  with  joy 

And  said,  Grandma,  you  should  have  led  the  siege  of  Troy, 

When  she  said,  I  will  make  some  of  them  coy 

And  walk  into  their  ranks  like  a  female  Rob  Roy. 

They  will  find  we  are  no  Christmas  toy. 

As  none  of  our  souls  they  can  destroy. 

Oh,  how  I  wish  you  all  could  have  been  there. 

I  tell  you  didn't  Grandpa  J  nelson  stare 

And  cry  out,  old  lady,  hold  on  there,  don't  swear. 

Then  with  her  words  she  rent  the  air, 

lint  in  all  she  was  a  perfect  lad}',  I  declare 

It  made  all  the  people  around  look  and  stare. 

Then   Grandma  Chappel  savs,  we  once  were  human  kind. 
Xow  we  are  spirits  and  can  give  something  sublime. 
Xot  merelv  talk  to  be  carried  awav  with  the  wind. 


344        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

For  in  all  she  says  you  will  find  she  is  gentle  and  kind 
And  not  treat  people  as  if  they  were  deaf,  dumb  and  blind, 
Like  lots  of  men  do  that  are  left  on  earth  behind. 

Then  Grandpa  Chappel  had  his  say, 

I  tell  you  this  is  progression  and  no  child's  play 

And  we  must  get  in  our  licks  every  day, 

For  men  on  earth  too  long  have  had  their  way. 

So  it  is  time  for  woman  to  have  her  say 

And  not  let  the  men  have  all  the  sway. 

Then  Dan  arose  and  said,  I  like  all  this 

I  feel  on  earth  it  will  bring  perfect  bliss. 

Then  the  parents  will  give  the  child  a  mutual  kiss 

And  teach  them  of  a  world  like  this. 

To  work  for  them  must  be  our  only  wish, 

As  woman's  suffrage  must  become  like  this. 

Then   Charley,  with  his  complacent  smile, 

Says,  Grandma  Judson  is  a  heroine  all  the  while, 

So  let  us  into  the  ranks  file. 

Come  Grandpa  Judson,  let's  have  another  smile, 

For  this  is  no  woman's  wile. 

I  suppose  my  son  it  is  all  for  the  best 
As  woman  has  always  been  counted  with  the  blest. 
This  comes  of  my  wife  taking  such  a  long  rest. 
Now  it  looks  as  if  she  was  going  to  work  with  a  zest, 
I  suppose  I  will  have  to  give  her  a  loving  caress 
If  I  expect  to  get  any  more  natural  rest. 

Then  we  all  gave  three  rousing  cheers 
As  the  work  has  commenced  without  fears. 
Then  I  told  them  I  would  the  helm  steer, 
As  we  through  Justin  could  give  it  from  our  sphere. 
Then  we  all  tried  to  shed  a  big  tear: 
It   would   not   come   there   was  so  much   joy  here. 

From  your  loving 

Ella  or  Pearlgate. 


William  Emerson 

Chapter  XXXIII 


Tuesday,  July  7,   1903. 

Good  morning,  Mr.  Hulburd.  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
you  in  the  body.  I  was  with  your  brother  Franklin.  I  met  him 
in  Cincinnati.  After  that  I  met  him  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  later 
in  Chicago  and  Morris,  Illinois.  My  name  is  William  Emerson, 
known  to  the  minstrel  and  theatrical  profession  as  Billy  Emer- 
son ;  managers  advertised  me  as  the  great  Billy  Emerson,  Prince 
of  Minstrel  Comedians. 

Now  I  am  going  to  give  this  communication  in  my  own 
way  and  in  my  own  language,  which  is  United  States.  I  will 
describe  to  you  the  different  incidents  that  took  place  in  the 
Little  One's  life,  or  perhaps  I  should  say  that  which  occurred 
in  his  life,  to  my  knowledge.  I  will  give  you  some  of  his  quaint 
sayings. 

"\Yhen  I  first  met  the  Little  One  it  was  at  the  old  Vine 
Street  Theatre,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He  came  there  as  a  star  with 
a  ballet  company.  Ballets  in  those  clays  were  all  the  rage.  He 
was  one  of  the  Premier  Danseuses  and  a  little  mite  of  a  creature 
at  that.  They  finished  up  the  performance  with  a  play  called 
"Little  Jack  Shepherd,  the  Baby  Housebreaker.''  Why  they 
designated  it  by  that  name  was  on  account  of  Little  Justin's 
height  :  he  was  only  four  feet  tall.  I  was  a  boy  working  around 
the  theatre  and  running  errands  for  actors  and  actresses.  Xow 
I  will  describe  him  as  he  looked  as  "Little  Jack  Shepherd."  When 
he  opened  the  door  and  walked  out  of  his  dressing  room  going 
towards  the  stage  he  was  followed  by  a  large  military  looking 
man.  I  think  he  was  the  finest  specimen  of  manhood  I  ever 
saw  ;  when  he  addressed  anyone  he  spoke  with  a  rich,  heavy, 
bass  voice.  His  voice  fascinated  me  so  that  I  tried  to  keep  as 


346        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

close  to  him  as  I  possibly  could  in  order  to  hear  him  speak.  Now 
I  will  describe  the  Little  One  as  he  was  dressed  for  the  char- 
acter. He  wore  a  red,  close  cropped  wig,  a  loose  linen  white 
shirt,  a  vest  striped  in  red  and  green,  a  little  pair  of  corduroy 
knee  breeches,  blue  woolen  stockings  and  flat  low  shoes.  He 
mounted  a  ladder  and  stepped  on  to  a  board  over  a  doorway  and 
the  ladder  was  taken  away.  When  the  curtain  went  up  he  was 
discovered  in  the  act  of  cutting  a  name  over  the  doorway,  at  the 
same  time  singing  a  rollicking  song, 

"I'm  the  dandy  of  Piccadilly, 
And  those  that  don't  believe  so 
Must  be  awful   silly." 

At  the  end  of  each  verse  he  would  dance  a  few  steps  upon  that 
board,  at  the  same  time  holding  the  mallet  and  chisel  in  his 
hands.  He  looked  for  all  the  world,  standing  up  there  on  that 
board,  like  a  monkey  dressed  up ;  then  he  made  believe  to  be- 
come very  tired,  sat  down  on  the  board,  laid  his  mallet  and 
chisel  alongside  of  him,  took  an  old  clay  pipe  out  of  his  pocket, 
filled  it  with  tobacco,  scratched  a  match  on  the  sole  of  his  shoe, 
lit  his  pipe  and  commenced  to  smoke.  Between  puffs  he  com- 
menced to  sing,  "I'm  the  pet  of  the  ladies,  as  you  can  see,''  then 
commenced  a  perfect  uproar  of  laughter  and  stamping  of  feet 
by  the  gallery  gods.  AYhile  he  was  smoking  I  think  he  looked 
more  like  a  monkey  than  ever.  A  number  of  men  and  women 
pass  along  in  that  scene,  with  several  kids  following  them.  When 
the  kids  got  in  front  of  where  he  was  sitting  they  holler,  "Hello, 
Jack,  ain't  you  going  in  swimming  today?"  He  said.  "As  I'm 
a  blooming  gent  hi's  goin'."  He  jumps  off  the  plank,  which  is 
quite  high.  Quite  a  number  of  ladies  in  the  audience  screamed, 
tliev  were  afraid  he  would  break  his  neck — but  instead  of  that 
he  lit  on  his  feet  like  a  cat.  A  kid  said  to  him,  "Jack,  can't  you 
sing  us  a  song  before  we  go  swimming?"  He  said,  "In  course 
I  can,  if  you'll  histe  your  voices  in  the  chorus."  He  sang  a  song 
wherein  he  said,  "I  cram  my  heel  and  stub  my  toe,  that's  'o\v 
I  jump  just  so."  In  looking  at  him  singing  that  song  and  (lanc- 
ing it  gave  me  the  idea  of  getting  up  a  song  and  dance  through 
which  I  became  so  famous  in  after  years  in  the  minstrel  pro- 
fession. 

I   will  also  describe  to  you  another  funny  scene  in  the  play. 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  347 

It  is  the  interior  of  a  low  den  in  London  where  low,  brutish  men 
and  lewd  women  congregate  to  dance  and  sing,  drink  whiskey 
and  gin  and  tell  vulgar  stories.  He  enters  the  den  dressed  up 
as  a  little  English  dude  of  that  period.  On  his  legs  are  white 
silk  stockings.  On  his  feet  are  low  patent  leather  shoes  with 
large  silver  buckles.  He  wears  a  blue  satin  vest,  embroidered 
all  over  with  silk  flowers,  a  scarlet  silk  velvet  coat  trimmed  with 
gold  lace,  white  lace  ruffles  hanging  out  of  his  vest,  the  same 
around  the  cuffs  of  his  coat,  a  white  powdered  wig,  fashioned 
in  a  queue  at  the  back,  a  black  cocked  hat  trimmed  with  white 
swansdown.  He  looked  for  all  the  world  like  a  monkey  dressed 
up  for  an  exhibition.  He  takes  a  silver  snuff  box  out  of  his 
pocket,  taps  the  lid  and  takes  a  snuff.  After  that  he  says,  "La- 
dies and  gents,  I'se  hawful  glad  to  see  you."  He  jumps  onto  a 
large  deal  table,  calls  all  the  ladies  up  to  him,  kisses  each  one 
in  turn  and  says,  "Some  'o\v  you  looks  like  daisies  tonight.  What 
is  the  matter  with  them  ere  blokes  over  there ;  they  grins  as  if 
they  was  goin'  to  their  funeral?"  There  was  a  tall  slender  girl 
in  the  piece  who  stood  six  feet  in  her  stockings.  She  was  en- 
gaged expressly  to  play  that  part  called  Bonnie  Bess.  Jack 
makes  believe  to  fall  in  love  with  her  and  kisses  and  hugs  her 
quite  frequently.  One  of  the  toughs  in  the  play  says  he  won't 
stand  it — that  she  belongs  to  him,  and  challenges  Jack  to  fight 
a  duel  with  pistols.  Jack  accepts  the  challenge  and  they  are  both 
handed  pistols.  Jack  mounts  and  sits  on  this  tall  woman's 
shoulders,  fires  off  his  pistol  and  kills  his  antagonist  before  the 
word  is  given  to  fire  :  that  closes  the  scene. 

There  is  another  scene  in  the  play  which  is  a  courtroom 
scene.  There  is  a  trial  and  Jack  is  condemned  to  be  hung  for 
murdering  that  man.  Jack's  girl  is  permitted  to  see  him  in  his 
cell.  She  smuggles  in  some  whiskey.  Jack  drinks  it  and  gets 
drunk.  \Yhen  the  officers  bring  him  to  the  courtroom  to  stand 
trial  he  comes  in  drunk,  singing,  "She's  my  darling  and  I'm  her 
sugar  plum."  The  judge  gets  so  angry  he  stands  up  and  hol- 
lers out,  "1  want  quietness  to  reign  in  this  courtroom  while  I 
preside  here  as  judge."  Jack  hollers  out.  "do  chase  yourself, 
von  old  bloke."  The  judge  looks  all  around  to  see  who  spoke 
those  words,  with  a  face  on  him  as  red  as  a  lobster,  hollering 
out.  "\Yho  dares  to  insult  me  in  his  majesty's  courtroom?"  lack 


348        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

hollers  out,  "Hi  do,  you  duffer."  The  judge  yells  out,  "Where 
does  that  voice  come  from?"  The  two  policemen  pick  Jack  up 
and  hold  him  out  at  arms  length  that  the  judge  may  see  him. 
When  the  judge  looks  on  the  culprit  he  staggers  back  and  falls 
into  his  chair  saying,  "The  Lord  have  mercy  on  us;  what  is  it?" 

Xow  I  want  to  describe  Jack  to  you  as  he  appears  in  court. 
He  wears  a  little  pair  of  boots  with  an  old  pair  of  torn  knee 
breeches,  a  torn  vest,  a  loose  linen  shirt  hanging  on  him  in  rags, 
two  black  eyes,  a  bloody  nose  and  a  red  wig  on  his  head.  While 
the  policemen  were  holding  him  up  for  the  judge  to  look  at,  his 
Honor  said,  "Officers,  where  did  you  find  that  God-forsaken 
looking  thing?"  One  of  the  officers  said,  "Your  Honor,  we  found 
him  and  his  sweetheart  painting  the  town  red,"  which  brought 
a  big  laugh  from  the  audience.  Air.  Hulburd,  I  wish  you  could 
have  seen  him  as  he  was  made  up  for  that  scene.  Of  all  the 
wretched  looking  creatures,  he  was  that  one.  He  looked  like 
they  had  picked  him  out  of  the  gutter  after  a  clog  had  got 
through  chawing  him  all  over.  1  never  saw  such  a  make-up  in 
all  my  life.  He  is  condemned  to  be  hung  and  after  they  have 
pronounced  sentence  on  him  the  judge  asked  him  what  he  has 
to  say  for  himself.  He  gives  a  hiccough  and  says,  "Hi  feels  as 
'ow  I  must  kiss  Bonnie  Bess,  since  they're  goin'  to  make  a 
hangel  out  o'  me."  That  great,  strapping  woman  picks  him  up  ; 
he  hugs  and  kisses  her,  saying,  "Bess,  lass,  see  'e  keeps  my  grave 
green,"  which  brings  a  big  laugh  from  the  people.  They  call 
him  before  the  curtain.  He  is  led  on  by  Mr.  Warren,  when  the 
gallery  gods  holler,  "Let's  have  'Oh,  ain't  we  got  a  nerve.''  "  He 
goes  up  to  the  leader  of  the  orchestra  and  says.  "McGuffin,  fid- 
dle." The  orchestra  plays  :  he  sings  and  dances  and  of  all  the 
wretched  looking  little  creatures  that  you  ever  saw  in  your  life 
it's  he  singing  and  dancing  "Oh,  ain't  I  got  a  nerve."  He  was 
called  out  three  times  and  they  wanted  him  to  come  out  the 
fourth  time.  Mr.  Warren  stepped  on  the  stage,  saying.  "Ladies 
and  gentlemen,  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  him  to  sing  and  dance 
an}'  more  for  you  at  present ;  he  must  rest  now  and  get  ready 
for  the  last  act." 

In  the  last  act  is  the  gallows  scene.  He  is  brought  on.  walk- 
ing between  two  great,  big  officers  six  feet  tall,  chained  to  their 
legs.  The  three  mount  the  scaffold  where  stands  a  hangman 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  349 

and  a  clergyman.  The  clergyman  steps  forward,  loosens  the 
chains,  lets  them  drop  to  the  platform.  The  clergyman  says  to 
Jack,  "I  think  we  had  better  pray  now,  before  your  soul  passes 
into  eternity."  Jack  looks  up  at  him  with  an  awful  dreary  ex- 
pression on  his  face.  You'd  think  he  had  been  on  a  drunk  for 
a  month.  He  says  to  the  clergyman,  "I  ain't  got  time  now;  the 
old  man  and  the  hangels  are  waiting  for  me  and  I  don't  want  to 
be  late  for  the  brimstone  soup."  Just  then  he  kicks  both  the  po- 
licemen on  the  shins.  They  fall  to  the  platform.  He  grabs  the 
rope  they're  going  to  hang  him  with,  swings  himself  to  the  roof 
of  an  old  fashioned  house  standing  near  by.  The  curtain  goes 
down  while  the  orchestra  is  playing  that  Scotch  ballad,  "I'm 
o'er  young  to  marry  yet."  The  policemen  are  clubbing  each 
other  with  their  clubs.  The  clergyman  and  the  hangman  sit 
down  on  each  corner  of  the  platform,  drinking  whiskey  out  of 
a  bottle.  I  give  you  a  little  description  of  the  funniest  Jack 
Shepard  I  ever  saw  played.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  recite  all 
the  funny  lines  here  that  were  spoken  in  the  piece. 

I  became  very  much  attached  to  Justin  and  felt  very  proud 
when  he  could  ask  me  to  perform  any  duty  for  him.  It  rained 
very  hard  that  night  before  the  performers  got  ready  to  go  home 
to  their  hotel  and  I  asked  Mr.  \\  arren  to  grant  me  the  permis- 
sion to  carry  Little  Justin  on  my  back  to  the  hotel.  First  he 
did  not  seem  inclined  to  grant  me  that  permission,  but  the  Lit- 
tle One  said,  "Oh  papa,  do  let  him  carry  me  on  his  back;  it  will 
be  just  grand."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "Well,  wait;  I  have  just  sent 
for  an  umbrella  and  I  will  hold  it  over  you  while  he  carries  you 
to  the  hotel."  Wasn't  I  a  proud  boy  then?  I'd  have  given  a 
hundred  dollars  if  only  some  of  the  boys  had  been  around  to  see 
me  carry  the  little  star  on  my  back.  When  we  arrived  at  the 
hotel  Little  Justin  said,  "Papa  Warren,  I'm  going  to  invite  Billy 
to  take  lunch  with  us  tonight."  Mr.  Warren  said,  ''All  right, 
Pet:  we'll  go  right  up  now  and  get  through  with  it."  I  could 
see  he  wanted  to  get  rid  of  me.  I  noticed  he  indulged  Little 
Justin  in  all  his  wishes. 

We  went  up  stairs,  Justin  holding  my  hand  all  the  time. 
\\  hen  we  arrived  at  their  apartments  a  man  servant  ushered  us 
in.  There  was  quite  a  spread  on  a  table  waiting  the  coming  of 
Mr.  Warren  and  his  Little  One.  A  roast  chicken,  some  lobster 


350        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

salad,  bread  and  butter,  chow  chow,  strawberries  and  a  bottle 
of  wine.  That  was  the  best  meal  and  the  happiest  one  that  I 
ever  sat  down  to  partake  of  up  till  that  time.  The  man  servant 
waited  on  us  and  I  saw  that  he  understood  his  business.  After 
we  had  finished  the  repast,  the  man  servant  removed  the  dishes 
from  the  room,  returning  he  placed  a  handsome  table  cloth  on 
the  table,  a  beautiful  smoking  set,  a  bottle  of  wine  and  a  glass. 
I  noticed  Little  Justin  only  sipped  a  little  bit  of  the  wine  out  of 
his  papa's  glass.  While  the  man  was  arranging  those  things  on 
the  table  Mr.  Warren  stepped  into  the  next  room,  returning  in 
about  five  minutes  with  a  dressing  gown  on  and  a  newspaper 
in  his  hand.  He  said  to  the  servant,  "Henry,  wheel  that  sofa  up 
under  the  gas  light;  I'm  going  to  read  the  newspaper  while  Pet 
and  his  friend  amuse  themselves."  He  said,  ''Have  you  placed 
a  fresh  pitcher  of  drinking  water  in  the  sleeping  room?  You 
know  when  Puss  wakes  up  he  always  wants  a  big  drink  of  wa- 
ter." The  man  said,  "I  have  done  so,  Mr.  AYarren.  I  think  ev- 
erything is  in  its  place  for  tonight."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "Very 
well,  Henry,  you  may  retire  now.  See  that  our  breakfast  is 
served  at  9  o'clock,  as  usual."  After  the  man  left  the  room  and 
shut  the  door,  Mr.  Warren  lay  down  on  the  sofa  to  read  his 
newspaper.  Little  Justin  coaxed  me  to  play  horse  with  him. 
I  got  down  on  my  hands  and  knees,  while  he  got  on.  my  back, 
then  I  went  around  the  room,  making  believe  I  was  a  horse. 
I  could  see  Mr.  Warren  would  look  at  us  once  in  a  while  and 
smile.  1  was  glad  that  I  did  something  to  please  him.  In  about 
an  hour  he  said  to  me,  "Billy,  you  had  better  go  home  now— 
the  hour  is  late."  Little  Justin  spoke  up  and  said,  "Papa,  he 
ain't  a  going  tonight."  Mr.  Warren  said,  "but  Pet,  we  have  no 
bed  for  him  and  besides  that  his  mother  will  want  to  see  him." 
The  Little  One  said,  "He  ain't  a  going  home,  anyhow.  He's 
my  boy  now  and  he's  going  to  sleep  on  that  sofa  where  you're 
lying."  Mr.  Warren  laughed  and  said,  "Well,  I  suppose  you 
will  have  your  own  way.  What  are  we  going  to  do  for  bed- 
clothes?" Kittle  Justin  said,  "I  will  give  him  my  pillow  and 
your  overcoat,  that  settles  it  now.  papa/'  He  said,  "I  suppose 
so."  Little  Justin  said  to  me,  "Billy,  you  can  sleep  that  way, 
can't  you?"  I  said,  "\\liy,  of  course  I  can.'''  I  would  have 
slept  on  the  floor  if  he  had  asked  me  to,  in  order  to  be  near  him. 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  351 

Mr.  Warren  said,  "Well,  get  up  here  on  to  my  lap  and  let  me 
unbutton  your  shoes  and  get  you  ready  for  bed."  Mr.  Warren 
prepared  him  for  bed  and  then  carried  him  into  the  adjoining 
room.  That  night  I  dreamed  I  had  become  a  star  and  was  play- 
ing in  a  company  with  the  Little  One,  which  came  to  pass  forty 
years  afterwards,  when  Little  Justin  and  I  played  with  Me 
Guire's  and  Haverley's  great  combination. 

We  will  continue  at  another  time,  as  they  say  we  have 
done  enough  today. 

Thursday,  July  9,  1903. 

Good  morning,  Mr.  Hulburd,  but  perhaps  I  should  say, 
"How  are  you  at  noon  today,  as  it  is  so  near  the  noon  hour?" 
I  was  not  permitted  to  come  yesterday.  Miss  Lees  said  that 
Justin's  physical  strength  would  not  permit  of  him  being  con- 
trolled every  day.  She  says  his  physical  condition  is  too  weak 
for  that  purpose  now,  but  I  might  take  control  today  for  a  cou- 
ple of  hours.  The  Indian  girl,  Rosa,  said,  "Don't  spread  it  out 
too  much,  or  we  will  have  to  choke  you  off."  She  said  it  in  her 
Indian  way,  but  I  give  it  to  you  in  my  way  of  speaking. 

We  will  now  proceed  with  the  Little  One's  condition  and 
life  as  I  remember  it.  1  will  give  it  to  you  as  near  correct  as  I 
am  capable  of  doing. 

On  the  following  morning,  after  the  Sunday  before  Justin's 
company  was  to  leave  for  Pittsburg,  I  was  in  the  reading  room 
with  Justin  and  several  of  the  company.  While  we  were  sit- 
ting there  talking,  Mr.  Warren  and  the  landlord  stood  near  the 
door  conversing  with  each  other  when  three  carriages  drove  up 
in  front  of  the  hotel.  The  driver  of  the  first  carriage  got  down 
and  opened  the  door  when  out  stepped  Miss  Charlotte  Cush- 
man  and  her  maid.  When  Little  Justin  discovered  who  it  was 
he  yelled  out,  "There's  old  Charlotte."  As  he  made  a  rush  for 
the  door  he  pushed  me:  I  fell  up  against  a  gentleman  and  we 
both  fell  to  the  Moor.  As  he  was  rushing  towards  the  door  Mr. 
\\  arren  stepped  in  front  of  him,  thinking  lie  would  stop  him 
from  running  into  the  street,  but  quicker  than  I  can  tell  it  he 
dodged  between  Mr.  Warren's  legs.  The  landlord  thought  he'd 
stop  him.  Quicker  than  lightning,  or  nearly  as  quick,  anyhow, 
he  kicked  the  landlord  in  the  belly.  The  landlord  dropped  to 
the  floor.  He  opened  the  door,  rushed  out  on  the  sidewalk  hoi- 


352         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

lering,  "Charlotte,  old,  old  Charlotte."  In  about  three  minutes 
he  was  clasped  in  her  arms.  He  raised  such  a  confusion  in  the 
reading  room  you  would  have  thought  a  cyclone  had  struck  the 
hotel.  While  Mr.  Warren  stood  up  against  the  door  laughing 
an  old  gentleman  sat  down  on  one  of  the  chairs  that  Puss  had 
pushed  up  against  a  chair  out  of  his  way,  holding  his  side. 
When  I  came  to  my  senses  the  old  man  said,  "Damn  that  kid 
anyhow ;  he  is  quicker  than  all  hell.  Who  does  the  brat  belong 
to?"  I  said,  "That  gentleman  standing  in  the  door  laughing  is 
his  father."  He  says,  "What — that  big  man  there?"  I  said, 
"Yes,  sir."  He  said,  "He's  big  enough  to  teach  that  little  brat 
better  manners.  Who  is  the  youngster,  anyhow?  I've  noticed 
a  good  many  of  the  guests  in  the  hotel  speaking  to  him.  I  said, 
"Don't  you  know  who  he  is?"  He  said,  "No,  who  is  he?"  I 
said,  "He's  the  little  star  around  at  the  theatre,  that  closed  his 
engagement  last  night."  He  said,  "Is  that  the  Little  One  that 
played  'Little  Jack  Shephard'  last  night  at  the  theatre?  His 
folks  must  be  proud  of  him.  He  don't  look  any  older  than  ten 
years.  How  they  crammed  all  that  stuff  into  him  I  don't  know." 
I  told  him  he  was  over  twenty  years  old.  He  looked  at  me  and 
said,  "Boy,  don't  lie  to  me."  I  told  him  that  was  a  fact  and  he 
could  ask  his  father.  When  I  looked  around  I  saw  Miss  Cush- 
man  leaning  on  Mr.  W7arren's  arm,  who  was  escorting  her  tow- 
ards the  ladies'  entrance.  Little  Puss  said,  "No,  Charlotte, 
don't  you  go  that  way.  Come  right  through  this  way,  where  all 
the  men  are  and  show  them  you  don't  give  a  damn  for  them." 
That  made  the  landlord  laugh.  He  said,  "Puss,  did  you  know 
you  kicked  me  and  knocked  me  over?"  The  Little  One  looked 
up  and  laughed,  saying,  "I  guess  if  we  didn't  pay  our  board 
you'd  kick  us  out,"  which  was  the  cause  of  a  big  laugh  from 
the  people  present  in  the  reading  room. 

The  landlord  said,  "Miss  Cushman,  your  rooms  are  in  or- 
der, waiting  for  you."  The  Little  One  said,  "They'd  better  be, 
or  we'll  know  the  reason  why.  She's  Queen  of  the  Stage  and 
don't  take  any  lip  from  any  man,  do  you,  old  Charlotte?"  which 
was  the  cause  of  another  big  laugh.  She  bowed  to  all  the  gen- 
tlemen present  like  a  queen.  I  mean  I  shall  never  forget  that 
bow,  and  I  only  wish,  Mr.  Hulburd,  you  could  have  seen  those 
gentlemen  bow  in  return.  I  felt  as  if  we  were  standing  on  sa- 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  353 

cred  ground.  The  Little  One  had  her  heavy  shawl  thrown  over 
his  shoulder  and  was  tugging  away  at  a  valise  that  he  had  taken 
out  of  her  maid's  hand.  He  looked  at  me  and  said,  "Billy,  take 
a  hold  of  this  valise,  damn  you,  and  earn  your  grub.  I  tell  you, 
old  Charlotte  will  paralyze  them  tomorrow  night."  Miss  Cush- 
man  was  to  open  on  Monday  night  in  her  great  character,  Meg 
Merrilies  and  Guy  Mannering.  I  wish  you  could  have  seen 
that  picture,  Mr.  Hulburd,  the  Queen  of  Tragedy  escorted  by 
Mr.  Warren  and  the  landlord  to  the  main  stairway  of  the  hotel, 
Little  Puss  carrying  her  big  shawl  and  I  carrying  her  valise. 
Her  maid  followed  us  laughing,  while  a  number  of  the  company 
were  following  after  her.  The  guests  of  the  hotel  applauded 
and  laughed.  When  the  Little  One  had  mounted  on  the  third 
step  he  turned  around  and  threw  them  kisses.  After  that  he 
kicked  out  his  foot  behind,  which  hit  me.  I  fell  off  the  three 
steps  on  to  the  floor,  falling  at  the  same  time  on  to  old  Char- 
lotte's valise,  which  busted.  When  the  things  commenced  to 
come  out  the  maid  screamed  and  made  a  grab  for  the  valise. 

The  porter  told  me  afterwards  when  he  was  an  old  man  it 
was  a  tableau  he  never  witnessed  nor  saw  the  like  of  before, 
nor  since  that  time.  He  said  there  I  was  sprawling  on  the  floor, 
while  the  maid  was  screaming  and  trying  to  get  the  things  to- 
gether. Half  way, up  the  stairs  stood  Little  Justin  with  his  fin- 
ger in  his  mouth  and  the  big  shawl  lying  at  his  feet.  He  said, 
"Of  all  the  innocent  expressions  I  ever  saw  that  Little  One  had 
on  his  face;  it  was  pictured  there  in  such  a  manner  that  he  was 
wondering  what  it  all  meant."  On  the  landing  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs  stood  Miss  Cushman,  Mr.  Warren  and  the  landlord. 
Miss  Cushman,  he  said,  stood  there  bowing"  with  the  most  gra- 
cious of  smiles,  thinking  all  the  time  that  she  was  the  cause  of 
so  much  applause,  when  it  was  the  little  curse,  he  said,  that 
stood  half  way  down  the  stairs  looking  as  innocent  as  if  he 
couldn't  say  peaches.  Then  he  rubbed  his  nose  on  his  jacket 
sleeve  and  made  believe  to  cry,  saying.  "I  always  heard  you 
Cincinnati  people  were  queer  folks,  anyhow."  There  went  up  a 
shout  that  was  deafening.  He  threw  kisses  to  them,  saying, 
"Ta  ta.  old  Charlotte  and  I  will  meet  you  at  hash  time." 

The  porter  said  when  he  was  an  old  man.  "Billy,  if  I  was  a 
rich  man  and  could  have  that  picture  painted  as  I  saw  it  that 


354        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Sunday  afternoon."  I  told  him  if  he  could  describe  it  then  as  he 
saw  it,  that  is,  thoroughly,  in  all  the  minute  details,  I  would 
furnish  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  have  it  painted.  There  were 
three  pictures  painted  by  Herbert  Meyer,  the  German  artist, 
that  cost  five  thousand  dollars  each,  but  none  of  them  were  sat- 
isfactory to  old  O'Connell,  so  we  gave  it  up.  I  furnished  the 
artist  with  photographs  of  the  different  individuals.  Old 
O'Connell  said  that  the  artist  never  got  the  perfect  innocent  ex- 
pression on  Little  Justin's  face.  It  was  one  of  the  most  pecu- 
liar expressions  that  I  ever  saw  on  any  one's  face  on  the  stage. 
It  was  such  an  innocent  expression  that  it  conveyed  the  idea 
to  the  people  that  he  was  about  to  burst  out  a  crying.  Then  he 
would  change  it  from  that  to  such  a  simpering  look  that  the 
people  would  scream  with  laughter.  I  never  knew  an  artist  that 
was  capable  of  catching  that  expression  while  he  was  on  the 
stage.  Mr.  Hooley  had  engaged  four  artists  to  my  knowledge 
to  catch  that  expression,  but  they  all  failed.  I  was  so  anxious 
to  get  it  that  I  hired  Mr.  Rogers  of  San  Francisco,  a  fine  Eng- 
lish artist,  to  prepare  his  studio  for  a  little  reception  to  my 
friends.  There  were  present  James  Russell,  Dave  \Yambold, 
Louis  James,  Charley  Reed,  Barton  Hill,  Fayette  Welsh,  Sophy 
Watson,  Mrs.  Nellie  Smith,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chanfrau,  Mr.  Hooley, 
Tom  McGuire  and  Lydia  Forbush  and  another  lady  whose  name 
I  do  not  call  to  memory.  They  sang,  told  jokes  and  provided 
other  amusements  for  the  occasion.  During  the  reception  the 
look  came  once  upon  the  Little  One's  face.  The  artist  failed 
to  catch  it  and  lost  his  fee.  It  was  a  peculiar  expression  of  in- 
nocence, Mr.  Hulburd,  that  I  cannot  describe  to  you.  If  the 
artist  had  caught  it  and  painted  a  picture  I  intended  he  should 
reproduced  it  on  another  canvas  in  order  that  I  might  send  it  to 
old  O'Connell  to  make  the  last  of  his  days  happy.  There  was 
something  peculiar  about  the  first  part  of  the  expression  that 
had  a  madonna  look  to  it :  from  that  it  changed  to  a  simpering 
condition  where  he  was  about  to  cry.  I  cannot  give  the  de- 
scription of  it  justice.  If  any  artist  was  fortunate  enough  to 
catch  that  expression  I  never  had  the  pleasure  of  looking  on 
the  picture.  My  wife  used  to  say  it  was  the  most  peculiar  ex- 
pression of  innocence  that  she  ever  saw  on  any  one's  face.  "V\  hen 
she  looked  at  him  while  he  had  that  expression  she  felt  like  cry- 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  355 

ing.  Mr.  Hulburd,  he  was  a  strange  being,  and  never  was  un- 
derstood by  the  profession.  A  number  of  them  claimed  they 
understood  him,  but  I  doubt  it. 

One  of  the  five  thousand  dollar  pictures  that  was  painted 
in  Cincinnati  I  presented  to  the  Art  Gallery.  One  I  gave  to  the 
old  man  and  the  other  I  raffled  off  at  a  fair. 

When  I  became  a  star  in  my  line  of  business  I  was  play- 
ing in  Chicago.  While  playing  that  engagement  Charlotte  Cush- 
man  was  advertised  to  play  at  McVicker's  in  the  production  of 
Macbeth.  They  had  been  making  great  preparations  for  her 
coming,  as  she  was  to  play  Lady  Macbeth  on  that  occasion.  I 
saw  in  the  morning  papers  in  the  hotel  list  of  guests  that  she 
had  arrived.  I  called  at  the  hotel  in  the  afternoon  to  see  if  she 
would  not  grant  me  the  pleasure  to  occupy  one  of  the  boxes  at 
our  theatre.  I  told  her  that  I  would  have  extra  chairs  put  in 
the  box  that  she  might  bring  a  number  of  her  friends.  She  con- 
sented to  do  me  that  honor. 

Next  day  was  Sunday ;  by  the  calendar  it  was  called  St. 
Valentine's  day.  That  Sunday  morning,  just  as  I  was  seating 
myself  at  the  table  in  the  breakfast  room  a  perfumed  note  was 
handed  me  by  the  head  waiter.  The  note  was  left  by  a  messen- 
ger boy.  who  had  just  handed  it  to  him  in  the  hall.  The  boy 
was  on  the  way  to  my  room,  asking  the  head  waiter  if  I  was 
not  in  at  breakfast.  The  head  waiter  said  that  I  was,  and  hand- 
ed me  the  note.  It  was  an  invitation  from  Charlotte  Cushman, 
asking  me  to  do  her  the  honor  of  becoming  one  of  her  guests 
that  afternoon  at  four  o'clock.  I  accepted  the  invitation  and 
went.  I  think  in  all  there  were  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  guests 
present.  After  all  the  guests  that  she  had  invited  were  present 
she  said,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  no  doubt  you  think  it  is  pe- 
culiar that  I  invite  you  here  to  my  rooms  on  a  Sunday  after- 
noon. Perhaps  most  of  you  know  that  this  is  St.  Valentine's 
day.  You  no  doubt  cannot  have  the  pleasure  of  receiving  vour 
valentines  until  tomorrow,  but  T  always  carrv  my  valentine  with 
me.  It  is  the  only  valentine  that  1  ever  received  in  my  life — 
to  me  it  is  more  precious  than  gold  or  rich  jewels.  I  could  not 
bear  the  love  towards  the  most  valuable  diamond  that  ever  came 
out  of  a  mine  that  I  do  to  my  sweet  little  valentine.  She  went 
to  a  large  trunk,  lifting  the  lid  brought  forth  a  wdiite  satin  box, 


356        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

on  the  lid  of  the  box  was  painted  the  portrait  of  a  beautiful 
child  with  long  curly  hair.  He  was  dressed  in  a  little  plaid 
blouse,  with  a  little  white  ruffle  around  his  neck.  I  remember 
it  well,  for  the  picture  never  left  my  memory  afterwards.  It 
was  the  last  thing  I  thought  of  when  my  spirit  was  passing  from 
my  body. 

She  carried  the  box  around  the  room  to  see  if  any  one  rec- 
ognized the  face.  When  she  came  to  Charley  Thorne  he  seized 
hold  of  the  box  by  the  corner,  trembling;  he  said,  "Good  God, 
it's  the  face  of  Little  Puss,"  and  commenced  to  cry.  He  said, 
"Charlotte,  that  man  Warren  robbed  me  of  the  Little  One's  love 
and  I  hate  him  for  it."  He  cried  so  that  I  thought  his  heart 
would  break.  She  went  around  the  room  with  the  box ;  after 
she  had  done  so  she  sat  down  on  a  sofa,  saying,  ''Ladies  and 
gentlemen,  I  will  now  read  to  you  the  sweetest  and  most  loving 
valentine  that  ever  was  written."  She  opened  the  box,  taking 
therefrom  an  old  valentine.  It  was  a  very  showy  one,  with  lots 
of  gold  and  other  high  colors  on  it.  She  said,  "1  will  now7  read 
to  you,  friends,  the  only  true  love  letter  that  I  ever  received  in 
my  life,  one  that  came  from  the  soul  of  a  true  little  friend.  I 
have  received  during  my  life  valuable  jewels  from  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe  and  many  of  my  friends,  but  I  never  received 
a  jewel  that  was  as  valuable  to  me  as  this  little  old  velentine." 
Mr.  Thorne  said,  "Charlotte,  will  you  permit  me  to  kiss  that 
valentine?"  She  said,  "No,  Charles,  no  lips  have  ever  kissed  it 
but  mine,  and  none  ever  shall  if  I  know  it.  When  they  lay 
Charlotte's  old  body  in  the  coffin  I  want  this  little  old  valentine 
placed  there  with  me,  as  it  is  the  only  true  love  letter  I  ever 
received  in  my  life.  It  is  written  by  the  beautiful  Lizzie  Weston 
Davenport,  the  writing  is  placed  here  on  this  paper  at  the  dic- 
tation of  Little  Puss,  or  'La  Petite  Blanche,'  as  he  was  called 
then.  Xow,  friends,  I  will  read  my  love  letter  to  you  as  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  doing  to  some  friends  on  every  St.  Valentine's 
day  since  I  received  it."  Then  she  read  : 

"My  dear,  sweet  old  Charlotte — I  send  you  this  valentine 
because  I  bought  it  cheap.  The  old  duffer  (meaning  Edward 
Forrest,  the  king  of  actors,  which  brought  a  big  laugh)  I  told 
him  I  was  going  to  give  you  and  Lizzie  a  valentine,  and  he'd 
have  to  shell  out.  He  gave  me  a  dollar  and  I  got  them  pretty 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  357 

cheap.  You  see  yours  is  pretty  rich  looking,  only  the  corner  is 
tore  off,  and  I  got  it  for  sixty  cents.  Lizzie  fixed  it  up  and 
pasted  that  rose  on  where  the  corner  is  torn  off.  I  got  hers  for 
thirty  cents.  It's  a  pretty  good  one  but  old  Charlotte,  it  ain't 
as  handsome  as  yours.  On  the  picture  you  can  see  a  man  and 
you  sitting  down  on  a  rock.  The  man  is  making  love  to  you 
and  there  ain't  nobody  listening  but  that  bird  up  on  the  tree. 
If  he  says  anything  to  you  that  ain't  high  flown,  you  holler 
rats.  Xow,  old  Charlotte,  I  hope  you'll  get  my  valentine  first, 
because  I  came  up  stairs  and  shoved  it  under  the  door.  I  got 
Lizzie  to  write  on  the  outside  of  it  with  red  and  violet  ink  so 
as  to  look  rich  and  expensive.  You  needn't  tell  anybody  that 
it  cost  only  sixty  cents,  and  maybe  they'll  think  it  cost  a  dollar. 
If  any  old  blokes  should  send  you  some  valentines  don't  kiss 
theirs  before  you  do  mine,  for  I  knowed  you  first.  I  had  ten 
cents  left  over  and  I  bought  some  fine  peanuts.  I  gave  twelve 
to  Lizzie ;  for  Charlotte,  you  know  she's  a  good  girl.  I  saved 
some  for  you  and  I'll  bring  them  to  your  dressing  room  tonight. 
Charlotte,  say  to  the  old  duffers  you  think  my  valentine  is  the 
best  whether  you  do  or  not,  and  I'll  buy  you  a  better  one  the 
next  time.  You  know  I'll  be  bigger  then,  and  be  getting  more 
salary. 

"You  know  that  ten  dollars  that  Mr.  Marsh  made  me  a  pres- 
ent of,  because  he  thought  I  played  that  part  so  good.  Well,  I 
gave  it  to  the  old  woman  and  she  bought  two  tons  of  coal  for 
the  winter  and  a  quarter  dollar  chicken  for  next  Sunday.  Char- 
lotte, we  are  going  to  have  chicken  stew,  rice  pudding,  bread 
and  butter  and  coffee  for  dinner.  Won't  that  be  great?  I'm 
going  to  come  for  you  and  bring  you  to  dinner.  Saturday  night 
I'm  going  to  make  the  old  duffer  give  me  a  quarter  more  be- 
sides my  salary  to  buy  soda  water  for  the  dinner  on  Sunday; 
if  he  don't  give  it  to  me  I'll  curse  him  good.  You  know  when 
I  curse  him  big  he  always  gives  me  a  quarter  to  shut  up.  Xow, 
clear  old  Charlotte,  if  you  know  some  bigger  oaths  than  I  do,  I 
wish  you'd  tell  them  to  me  when  I  bring  the  peanuts  to  your 
dressing  room.  If  they're  bully  big  ones  maybe  he  will  give 
me  fifty  cents  to  shut  up.  Then  we  will  have  candy  and  pea- 
nuts at  the  dinner.  I  think  peanut  taffy  is  the  best,  don't  you, 
Charlotte?  Lizzv  says  you'll  be  delighted  when  you  get  my 


358        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

letter.  She  says  you  don't  often  get  such  highly  composed  let- 
ters as  this  one.  I  want  you  to  think  so,  anyhow.  This  is.  from 
your  loving  sweetheart.  Little  Puss.  Oh,  I  forgot  to  tell  you, 
Charlotte,  about  the  squirrel  that's  down  in  the  corner  eating 
nuts.  He  can't  hear  what  you  have  to  say  because  he  wants  to 
fill  up.  If  you  hit  the  fellow  in  the  jaw  and  knock  him  down, 
the  squirrel  will  never  tell  it  to  anybody.  Lizzie  and  I  kissed 
the  valentine  three  times  where  you  see  the  crosses  made  with 
red  ink.  Lizzie  hurried  up  and  put  it  in  the  envelope  before 
anybody  could  see  it.  Before  she  did  that  I  got  her  to  say, 
'From  your  true  love,  Puss'  I  hope  you'll  like  it." 

\Yhen  she  had  read  all  that  Miss  Lizzie  \Yeston  Daven- 
port had  written  for  Little  Puss,  she  kissed  it  and  placed  it  back 
in  the  white  satin  box,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "You  see, 
friends,  I  have  one  true  sweetheart  in  the  world."  She  lifted 
the  lid  of  her  trunk,  wrapped  the  white  satin  box  in  an  Indian 
silk  scarf,  placed  it  in  the  tray,  shut  down  the  lid  of  her  trunk 
and  locked  it;  turning  to  her  guests  she  said,  ''There  is  no  jewel 
that  ever  was  set  in  an  Emperor's  crown  that  ever  had  the  value 
of  untold  wealth  like  that  little  old  fashioned  valentine  and  its 
quaint  sayings  has  for  me  ;  that  was  from  the  heart  of  a  little 
child  that  loved  me  truly."  Then  she  broke  down  and  com- 
menced to  cry,  saying,  "Oh  God,  that  all  souls  were  as  pure 
as  that."  She  told  her  maid  to  ring  the  bell  and  order  the  re- 
freshments for  her  guests.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were  served 
with  refreshments.  Before  we  sat  at  table  she  requested  that 
we  might  sing  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee."  After  we  had  dined 
she  said,  "Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  do  this  same  that  you  have 
seen  here  today  on  every  St.  Valentine's  day." 

As  the  guests  were  leaving  and  wishing  her  long  life  and 
prosperity  I  asked  her  to  grant  me  the  permission  to  kiss  her 
on  the  forehead  ;  she  did  so.  Then  I  told  her  she  had  made  me 
a  happy  man  that  clay  for  I  had  never  passed  such  a  pleasant 
afternoon  as  I  had  on  that  occasion.  As  I  held  her  hand  when 
I  was  bidding  her  farewell  she  said,  "Mr.  Emerson,  the  next 
time  you  see  Little  Justin  kiss  him  for  old  Charlotte  and  tell 
him  she  still  keeps  his  wish  sacred,  that  she  has  never  seen  any 
other  valentine  that  she  thinks  compares  with  his."  She  said, 
"She  hoped  the  little  squirrel  down  in  the  corner  of  the  valen- 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  359 

tine  had  kept  her  secret  too,  for  she  never  had  told  a  man  in 
her  life  that  she  ever  loved  him." 

That  was  the  last  time  that  I  ever  saw  the  "Queen  of  Trag- 
edy" while  living  in  her  physical  body.  As  we  were  parting  and 
she  held  my  hands  in  a  friendly  grasp  she  had  honored  me  with 
the  greatest  boon  that  a  man  could  ask — to  shake  hands  with 
the  "Queen  of  the  Stage,"  not  only  a  great,  moral  woman  in 
her  character,  but  a  pure,  moral  woman  in  her  private  life.  We 
will  continue  at  another  time. 

Tuesday,  July   14,   1903. 

Good  morning,  Mr.  Hulburd.  Now  I  will  relate  some  of 
my  experiences  with  mediums  wherein  I  found  some  of  them 
to  be  genuine  mediums  and  others  to  be  the  worst  kind  of 
frauds.  During  one  of  my  engagements  in  Chicago,  with  other 
friends  I  visited  a  seance  given  on  Sunday  evening  by  a  medium 
named  Maude  Lord.  I  received  a  wonderful  test  through  her 
mediumship.  She  described  a  little  girl  that  was  very  dear  to 
me.  That  little  girl  was  about  fourteen  years  old  when  she 
passed  to  spirit  life.  Maude  Lord  described  her  and  her  pe- 
culiarities. One  of  them  was  she  would  always  snip  the  end  of 
my  nose  with  her  fingers  in  my  ears,  then  catch  hold  of  mv  hair 
and  shake  my  head.  She  had  many  peculiarities,  all  of  which 
Maude  Lord  described  perfectly.  That  made  me  believe  in 
Spiritualism.  I  was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  priest  told  me  I 
must  not  believe  in  that  modern  humbug  called  Spiritualism, 
but  \Yilliam  Emerson  had  a  head  of  his  own  and  it  was  his 
pleasure  to  think  about  things  as  he  chose.  When  I  received 
proof  of  anything  no  religion  in  the  world  could  make  me  be- 
lieve it  wasn't  so.  Xow.  a  more  fanatical  and  superstitious  class 
of  people  never  lived  than  Catholic  priests.  Their  whole  re- 
ligion is  built  up  on  superstition  and  what  superstition  can't  do 
to  bring  the  imagination  into  play,  whiskey  and  brandy  does. 
1  never  met  a  Catholic  priest  in  my  life  who  would  not  get  fully 
under  the  influence  of  liquor  at  certain  times.  1  never  met  a 
Catholic  priest  who  would  refuse  a  drink  of  brandy  when  offered 
tc i  him. 

While  playing  in  Philadelphia  I  visited  a  medium  whose 
name  was  Mrs.  Paul.  She  gave  me  a  grand  sitting.  I  must  call 
it  so:  through  her  mediumship  I  talked  with  many  of  my  friends. 


360        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

She  gave  me  a  peculiar  test.  While  she  and  I  were  carrying  on 
conversation  she  picked  up  two  lead  pencils,  commenced  to 
write  with  both  hands  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  at  the  same  time 
carrying  on  a  conversation  with  me  about  California,  and  ask- 
ing many  questions,  as  she  had  never  visited  that  state.  When 
the  communication  was  finished,  that  is,  there  were  two  of  them, 
three  loud  raps  came  on  the  table ;  one  of  the  raps  had  so  much 
power  with  it  that  it  made  the  table  tremble.  She  handed  me 
the  large  sheet  of  paper  that  she  had  written  upon.  There  I 
found  two  communications,  one  from  my  mother  speaking  of 
things  that  only  she  and  I  knew.  The  other  one  was  from  Air. 
Warren;  he  said,  "My  Little  One  must  go  west;  there  is  work 
for  him  there,  Billy.  You  and  he  will  play  in  the  same  com- 
pany in  Chicago.  It's  no  use  for  him  to  fight  the  spirits.  There 
is  a  work  lying  before  him  in  the  west  and  he  must  carry  it  out 
even  if  it  should  take  him  out  of  the  body.  You  tell  him  so 
when  you  see  him." 

When  I  was  in  Boston,  Mass.,  in  the  year  1875,  I  had  a  sit- 
ting with  a  Doctor  Spear  which  was  very  satisfactory.  When  I 
was  about  to  depart  he  held  my  hand,  saying,  "Mr.  Emerson, 
I  see  a  little  short  person  standing  alongside  of  you."  In  the 
description  I  recognied  Little  Justin.  "He  says  he  is  not  out 
of  the  body — that  is,  his  body  is  not  dead ;  it  is  merely  lying 
asleep  while  his  spirit  comes  here  to  make  a  prediction  about 
you.  He  says  your  spirit  will  pass  from  your  body  here  in  Bos- 
ton. Before  that  comes  to  pass  you  will  have  traveled  the  world 
pretty  much  over."  I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  acquainted 
with  the  fact  or  not,  but  my  spirit  did  pass  from  its  body  in 
Boston. 

I  said  to  the  Doctor,  "Can  you  give  me  an  explanation  how 
the  spirit  can  leave  the  body  and  come  here  to  Boston  in  order 
that  you  may  see  it?"  He  said,  "The  explanation  is  simple. 
When  the  body  is  lying  resting  on  a  bed  or  a  couch  of  some 
kind,  even  when  the  body  is  resting  on  a  sleeping  car  the  spirit 
can  leave  the  body  and  come  here  to  Boston  that  I  may  see  it. 
There  is  a  magnetic  current  between  the  body  and  the  spirit 
that  is  never  separated  only  through  what  you  call  death.  Now, 
this  little  individual  that  I  have  described  to  you  here  today 
must  be  a  medium,  and  a  powerful  medium,  too,  for  he  tells  me 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  361 

he  can  leave  his  body  at  any  time  that  he  wills  it  so.  There  is 
a  connection  in  your  lives  that  brings  you  so  close  together. 
At  one  time  I  see  in  the  future  where  you  are  about  to  become 
companions  and  occupy  the  same  bed.  That  military  looking 
man  that  I  described  to  you  says,  "That  desire  of  your  heart 
can  never  be  fulfilled.  We  have  other  work  for  the  Little  One 
which  he  must  accomplish  before  he  passes  out  of  the  body." 
Then  he  said,  "Listen  and  you  will  hear  the  Little  One  laugh." 
Mr.  Hulburd,  I  heard  him  laugh  as  plain  then  as  I  ever  heard 
him  laugh  in  his  physical  body  on  the  stage.  I  said,  "Doctor, 
this  is  wonderful."  The  Doctor  looked  at  me  and  smiled,  say- 
ing, "The  spirits,  through  that  Little  One,  will  teach  spiritual 
theosophy,  or  reincarnation  through  physical  embodiments." 
Mr.  Hulburd,  I  have  made  the  discovery  that  when  I  met  the 
Little  One  again  he  was  teaching  reincarnation,  but  I  do  not 
think  he  \vas  aware  of  it ;  sometimes  he  would  get  a  far  away 
look  in  his  eyes,  then  he  would  speak  in  a  peculiar  way  to  some 
of  the  members  of  the  company.  They  looked  upon  him  as  a 
strange  creature  and  some  went  so  far  as  to  say  they  thought 
he  would  end  his  days  in  a  lunatic  asylum. 

While  in  New  York  I  had  a  sitting  with  Henry  Slade  which 
turned  out  very  successful.  When  I  had  paid  him  my  fee  and 
was  about  to  depart  one  of  his  slates  jumped  up  from  the  table 
and  rested  itself  in  his  arms.  Mr.  Slade  laughed,  saying,  "Mr. 
Emerson,  the  spirits  are  not  through  with  you  yet.''  He  said, 
"Sit  down  in  the  chair,"  placing  the  slate  in  my  lap,  then  put- 
ting on  it  a  little  piece  of  slate  pencil.  While  we  were  waiting 
for  the  spirits  to  communicate  we  heard  a  voice  say,  "Billy,  you 
are  weak,  but  old  Charlotte  and  I  are  going  to  strengthen  your 
faith."  Then  I  heard  that  same  laugh  that  I  heard  in  Doctor 
Spear's  office  in  Boston.  The  slate  pencil  commenced  to  write. 
Mr.  Hulburd,  this  took  place  in  broad  daylight.  When  the  little 
piece  of  slate  pencil  was  all  used  up  some  spirit  seized  hold  of 
the  slate,  threw  it  under  the  table  onto  the  carpet,  which  was  the 
cause  of  Mr.  Slade  and  myself  laughing.  He  said.  "That  spirit 
was  very  positive  and  had  great  power  while  living  in  the  phys- 
ical." Then  we  heard  that  laugh  again  and  a  voice  said,  "You 
song  and  dance  man.  pick  up  that  slate."  I  picked  up  the  slate, 
placed  it  on  the  table,  when  Doctor  Slade  said,  "Will  wonders 


362        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

never  cease?"  I  looked  upon  the  slate  and  there  was  a  com- 
munication from  Charlotte  Cushman.  Right  over  the  commu- 
nication was  the  impression  of  a  hand.  I  recognized  it  right 
away  as  that  of  the  little  hand  of  Justjn.  Right  through  the 
hand  we  could  read  the  writing.  I  said  to  Doctor  Slade,  "Will 
you  allow  me  to  take  that  slate  and  have  it  photographed?" 
The  Doctor  presented  me  with  the  slate  and  said  I  might  keep 
it.  I  made  the  engagement  for  another  sitting  on  the  next  day 
and  left  the  Doctor's  rooms. 

While  on  the  way  to  have  it  photographed  I  met  a  man  by 
the  name  of  John  Ganze.  He  said,  "Hello,  Billy,  where  are  you 
going?"  I  told  him  I  was  going  to  have  a  slate  photographed. 
He  laughed  and  said,  "A  slate  photographed?''  I  told  him  yes, 
it  was  covered  with  writing;  that  I  had  had  a  sitting  with  Doc- 
tor Slade  and  received  a  communication  from  Charlotte  Cush- 
man. He  said,  "I  would  like  to  see  that,  Billy.  I  have  heard 
of  those  things,  but  never  saw  one."  We  were  pretty  close  then 
to  Parmelee's  saloon  on  Broadway,  when  he  said,  "Let  us  step 
in  here  and  get  a  glass  of  wine,  then  you  can  carefully  undo  the 
wrapping  and  show  it  to  me."  We  went  in  and  sat  down  at  a 
table ;  he  ordered  some  wine,  while  I  unwrapped  the  newspaper 
from  around  the  slate.  As  soon  as  he  looked  upon  the  slate  he 
laughed  and  said,  "There  is  the  imprint  of  Little  Puss'  hand.  I 
could  tell  it  among  a  thousand.  I  had  not  heard  that  he  had 
gone  to  spirit  land  yet."  I  said  as  far  as  I  knew  he  had  not. 
When  the  waiter  brought  the  wine,  the  fool  placed  the  glasses 
on  the  slate.  When  I  lifted  up  my  glass  to  drink  it  I  upset 
Ganze's  glass  in  some  way  and  his  wine  went  all  over  the  slate. 
The  impression  of  the  hand  and  the  writing  disappeared.  I 
broke  down  and  commenced  to  cry.  I  picked  up  my  slate  and 
wrapped  it  up  again  in  the  two  papers,  after  which  we  left  the 
saloon.  I  bade  him  good  morning  and  returned  to  Doctor 
Slade's  rooms. 

This  man  Ganze  was  a  member  of  the  Buckley  Serenaders, 
1  think  for  as  many  as  ten  or  twelve  years.  During  that  time  he 
became  well  acquainted  with  the  shape  of  Little  Justin's  hands 
and  recognixed  the  formation  on  the  slate  right  away.  When  I 
entered  Doctor  Slade's  reception  room  he  was  holding  his  sides 
and  laughing.  1  said.  "Doctor,  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  363 

hilarity;  can't  you  tell  me,  that  I  may  laugh  too?"  He  said, 
"Tell  you — if  you  ain't  had  the  proof  I'd  like  to  know  who  has. 
Don't  you  think  the  photograph  will  be  a  good  one?"  I  said, 
"Doctor,  do  you  know  what  has  happened?"  He  said,  "Of 
course  I  do.  Do  you  expect  to  carry  things  sacred  into  a  gin 
shop  and  expect  good  results  therefrom  ?  You  have  been  pun- 
ished for  your  wickedness.  Now  I  will  give  you  a  sitting  free 
of  charge  and  see  what  the  spirits  have  to  say  to  you." 

We  sat  down  and  received  a  communication  from  Charlotte 
Cushman.  She  commenced  like  this,  saying,  "My  dear  friend 
Emerson,  did  you  suppose  for  one  moment  that  I  would  permit 
my  writing  to  remain  on  that  slate  to  be  gazed  at  by  barroom 
loafers?  It  was  I  who  caused  you  to  knock  over  the  glass  and 
spill  the  wine  on  the  slate ;  through  that  condition  it  vanished 
from  your  sight.  The  chemical  property  that  was  in  the  wine 
I  utilized  and  banished  the  writing  from  the  slate.  I  hope  it 
will  be  a  lesson  that  will  remain  with  you  and  last  for  the  rest 
of  your  days,  teaching  you  that  yon  cannot  fool  or  play  with 
things  sacred,  especially  if  they  come  from  your  friend,  Char- 
lotte Cushman."  I  felt  so  bad  that  I  cried  out,  "Can't  you  pro- 
duce the  impression  of  the  Little  One's  hand  once  more  for  me 
on  the  slate?"  The  voice  said  out  loud.  "Xo,  we  will  punish 
you  in  this  way."  I  had  that  slate  photographed  for  many 
years.  I  finally  gave  it  to  a  friend  of  mine,  who  carried  it  with 
him  to  Australia.  His  name  was  Charles  Webb,  a  great  be- 
liever in  spiritual  manifestations. 

I  had  a  sitting  with  a  man  in  Washington,  whose  name  was 
Colchester.  The  sitting  was  a  failure  and  I  believe  the  man 
was  a  fraud,  and  I  told  him  so.  The  next  medium  that  I  sat 
with  bore  the  name  of  Nettie  Maynard  ;  she  was  a  genuine  me- 
dium. I  received  two  communications  through  her  medium- 
ship.  ( )ne  was  from  E.  P.  Christy  and  the  other  from  George 
Christy,  of  minstrel  fame.  I  made  arrangements  to  have  an- 
other sitting  the  next  afternoon.  During  that  sitting  I  received 
a  communication  from  Byron  Christy  and  "William  Christy,  two 
sons  of  E.  P.  Christv;  also  a  communication  from  Abraham 
Lincoln,  your  martyred  president.  I  made  arrangements  for 
another  sitting  at  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning.  I  received  a 
communication  from  Mr.  Warren  and  also  one  from  Mr.  Hoi- 


brook,  a  particular  friend  of  Mr.  Warren's  and  also  a  friend  of 
mine.  I  received  one  from  Charlotte  Cushman ;  one  from  G.  \Y. 
Jones,  an  old  Bowery  actor;  one  from  Kathleen  O'Xeal,  a  sing- 
er ;  one  from  my  little  lady  friend  that  Maude  Lord  has  de- 
scribed so  perfectly  in  her  circle,  and  one  from  General  Lee, 
whom  I  had  become  acquainted  with  before  the  rebellion,  wrhile 
playing  in  Richmond,  Va.  A  little  darkey  communicated  with 
me  from  Cincinnati,  to  whom  I  had  given  a  dime  many  a  time 
to  get  something  to  eat.  He  had  a  low,  drunken  mother  and 
when  she  was  in  a  bad  humor  she'd  beat  him  and  thrust  him 
into  the  street  at  night ;  he'd  come  and  wait  for  me  at  the  stage 
door,  asking  me  for  a  dime  to  get  something  to  eat.  I  had  him 
placed  where  he  would  be  taken  care  of  by  respectable  colored 
people,  but  the  little  body  was  too  much  wasted  from  hunger 
and  ill  treatment.  After  he  had  lived  with  these  people  six 
weeks,  his  spirit  passed  from  his  body  and  I  was  glad  to  hear  it. 
He  suffered  so  much  and  when  he  was  getting  ready  to  pass 
from  his  body  he  said  to  the  people,  "Tell  Billy  Emerson  I'll 
wait  for  him  in  Heaven."  He  gave  me  a  beautiful  communica- 
tion in  his  childish  way. 

The  next  medium  whom  I  visited  was  Mr.  Conklin.  He 
\vas  a  genuine  medium  and  gave  me  a  grand  communication 
from  one  whom  I  admired  very  much,  while  he  lived  in  the  body, 
and  that  was  Richard  Bishop  Buckley.  \Yhile  I  was  in  Chi- 
cago, I  visited  a  seance  called  a  "Trumpet  seance."  I  discov- 
ered the  medium  was  a  fraud  of  the  worst  kind.  He  was  a  ven- 
triloquist and  threw  his  voice  into  the  trumpet.  I  discovered 
the  medium  was  a  fraud,  as  I  understood  that  art  myself  and 
often  put  it  into  practice  for  the  amusement  of  the  boys  in  the 
company.  I  visited  three  other  mediums  and  made  the  dis- 
covery they  were  all  frauds.  I  would  not  have  you  soil  the 
paper  by  taking  down  their  names,  they  were  worthless  curs 
of  the  worst  kind.  I  visited  a  woman  by  the  name  of  Mrs. 
Brooks,  who  was  recommended  to  me  very  highly  by  a  friend. 
She  was  what  you  call  a  pellet  test  medium.  I  exposed  her  in 
the  fraud  that  she  had  committed  and  left  the  house. 

The  next  medium  that  I  visited  was  a  little  girl  and  she 
was  really  wonderful.  I  received  wonderful  tests  through  her 
mediumship.  She  was  not  a  public  medium.  I  was  introduced 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  365 

into  her  family  by  a  lady  friend  and  found  the  whole  family  very 
mediumistic.  Their  name  was  Devine. 

At  one  time  I  had  a  sitting  with  Charles  Foster,  which 
turned  out  to  be  a  failure  of  the  worst  kind.  I  knew  people 
who  claimed  to  have  received  genuine  tests  through  his  me- 
diumship. 

I  also  was  invited  to  attend  a  musical  circle  given  by  a  fel- 
low who  went  by  the  name  of  Jesse  Shephard.  All  the  music 
that  was  produced  in  that  circle  was  produced  by  Jesse  Shep- 
hard. No  spirits  produced  any  music  on  that  occasion,  only 
what  was  produced  by  the  spirit  of  Jesse  Shephard.  I  made 
the  discovery  those  tunes  that  he  played  in  the  dark  were  such 
as  he  had  committed  to  memory.  I  being  an  invited  guest  and 
my  friend  paying  the  admittance  fee  I  said  nothing  while  we 
were  in  the  room.  As  we  walked  along  the  sidewalk  I  told  my 
friend  the  whole  thing  was  a  fraud — the  spirits  had  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  Those  tunes  that  that  fellow  Shephard  played  in 
the  dark  he  had  committed  to  memory.  I  was  also  sorry  to  see 
how  credulous  some  spiritualists  were  and  how  easily  they  could 
be  gulled.  It  just  seemed  to  me  you  could  make  some  spirit- 
ualists believe  anything  that  had  the  label  spiritualism  attached 
to  it. 

The  next  medium  whom  I  visited  was  a  black  man  in  St. 
Louis  and  he  gave  me  wonderful  manifestatoins  in  Spiritual- 
ism. We  sat  in  a  room  that  was  only  shaded  by  blinds.  The 
hour  was  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  He  asked  me  if  I 
would  have  any  objections  to  his  praying  before  the  seance  com- 
menced. I  said.  "None  whatever."  He  knelt  and  prayed  and  it 
was  a  beautiful  prayer,  too.  I  felt  I  was  in  the  presence  of  one 
who  had  the  spirit  of  Christ  with  him.  Then  he  asked  me  to 
sing  a  hymn  with  him.  \Ye  sang  "Xearer,  my  God.  to  Thee.'' 
Y\  hile  we  were  singing  the  last  verse  a  light  commenced  to  float 
around  the  room  ;  as  it  came  toward  me  I  saw  a  lace  in  the 
light.  YVhen  it  got  right  in  front  of  me  the  light  expanded  and 
there  was  my  mother's  face  in  the  light.  She  smiled  upon  me 
and  I  became  very  happy.  \Ye  sang  another  hymn.  "In  the 
Sweet  By  and  By."  Another  light  commenced  to  float  around 
the  room.  As  it  got  in  front  of  me  it  remained  stationary  for 
about  three  minutes.  I  should  think.  There  I  saw  the  face  of 


366        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

my  little  sweetheart,  who  is  now  my  spirit  mate.  Another  light 
came,  and  as  it  floated  toward  me  it  grew  quite  large ;  in  that 
light  I  saw  the  little  black  boy  who  said  he  would  meet  me  in 
heaven.  Another  light  came  into  space  and  floated  around.  As 
it  came  toward  me  it  expanded  and  in  it  were  three  faces,  the 
face  of  Charles  Thome,  Charlotte  Cushman  and  a  face  that  I 
did  not  recognize  just  then.  After  the  light  had  disappeared, 
the  dark  skinned  man  was  controlled  and  a  voice  said  to  me, 
"Billy,  you  did  not  recognize  me,  did  you?"  I  said,  "Is  this 
the  voice  of  that  face  that  I  did  not  recognize?"  It  said,  "Yes, 
I  am  John  McCulloch."  I  said,  "John,  you  were  so  changed 
that  I  could  not  tell  you."  He  said.  "Go  to  Harry  Gordon's 
seance  in  Philadelphia.  There  I  will  materialize  in  full  form 
and  talk  with  you." 

\Yhen  I  reached  Philadelphia  Mr.  Gordon  had  removed  to 
Vineland,  in  southern  Xew  Jersey.  I  went  to  Vineland  and  got 
permission  from  Mrs.  Suydam,  in  whose  home  the  circles  were 
held,  to  attend  their  circle. 

The  second  circle  that  I  attended  Mr.  McCullough  walked 
out  of  the  cabinet  leading  my  little  black  friend  by  the  hand. 
When  the  spirit  of  Mr.  McCullough  had  reached  the  centre  of 
the  parlor  floor  a  lady  jumped  up  and  said,  "Oh.  there's  Uncle 
Henry."  A  gentleman  who  sat  in  front  of  her  said,  "Madam, 
you  are  mistaken  ;  that  is  John  McCullough,  the  actor.  I  knew 
him  when  he  lived  in  the  body."  The  lady  said,  "Oh,  you  are 
mistaken,  sir.  That  is  Uncle  Henry."  The  gentleman  said.  "I 
think  not.  Madam,  as  I  am  related  to  him."  Then  the  spirit 
spoke  and  said.  "\Yilliam  Emerson,  will  you  walk  here?  I  have 
come  to  keep  my  promise  and  brought  a  little  friend  who  loves 
you."  I  walked  forward  and  shook  hands  with  the  spirit  of 
John  MaCullough.  lifted  up  the  little  spirit  in  my  arms  and  said, 
"Are  you  happy  now,  since  you  passed  to  spirit  life?"  He  said 
in  a  low,  sweet  voice,  "Oh,  I'm  so  happy.  Billy,"  put  his  arms 
around  my  neck,  hugged  and  kissed  me.  Then  he  dissolved 
right  in  my  arms.  Where  he  went  I  could  not  tell.  John  Mc- 
Cullough said.  "William  Emerson.  I'm  going  to  show  you  what 
a  genuine  spirit  can  do.  If  it  is  not  a  genuine  spirit  that  you 
are  looking  at.  lie  cannot  do  just  what  I  am  going  to  show  yon." 
He  held  both  my  hands  while  he  dematerialized  through  the 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  367 

floor.  I  bent  my  body  and  held  on  to  his  hands  until  they  dis- 
solved in  mine.  That  was  a  manifestation,  Mr.  Hulburd,  that 
I  would  not  have  missed  for  all  the  money  that  I  ever  earned, 
and  I  earned  a  considerable  sum  of  it. 

After  the  circle  was  over  I  was  introduced  to  a  gentleman 
whose  name  I  think  was  Coonley.  He  told  me  he  came  to 
those  seances  in  the  interest  of  the  "Banner  of  Light,"  expect- 
ing to  find  them  bogus  manifestations  and  that  the  medium  was 
a  fraud  of  the  worst  kind.  "I've  heard  him  slandered  by  so 
many  other  mediums  as  being  a  terrible  fraud  ;  here  I  have  wit- 
nessed (just  here  came  a  loud  rap)  the  grandest  demonstra- 
tions I  ever  saw  in  spiritualism  :  this  is  the  only  genuine  ma- 
terialization I  have  ever  seen.  There  may  be  others,  but  I  have 
never  been  fortunate  enough  to  witness  them." 

Now,  Mr.  Hulburd,  there  is  one  point  that  I  wish  to  show 
you.  When  I  introduced  myself  to  Mrs.  Suydam  I  told  her  my 
name  was  Joseph  Wilson.  There  was  no  one  in  the  circle  who 
knew  me  or  who  I  was.  The  spirit  of  John  McCullough  called 
me  by  the  name  of  Wm.  Emerson,  asked  me  to  come  forward 
and  shake  hands  with  him.  The  spirit  of  the  little  boy  called 
me  Hilly,  hugged  and  kissed  me  and  then  dissolved  in  my  arms. 
Do  you  see  where  the  point  comes  in?  My  friends,  the  spirits 
recognized  me,  the  people  living  in  their  physical  bodies,  who 
formed  the  circle,  did  not. 

When  I  returned  west  again  I  went  to  that  black  man  in 
St.  Louis — the  medium,  I  mean.  I  presented  him  with  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  telling  him  that  through  his  mediumship  I  had  be- 
come a  happy  man.  something  that  money  could  not  purchase. 
Xow  I  knew  life  was  eternal  ;  I  had  spoken  face  to  face  with 
the  spirit  of  John  McCullough  :  held  in  my  arms  the  spirit  of 
the  little  black  boy  who  loved  me  so  much  for  what  little  I  had 
done  to  try  and  keep  life  in  his  little  bodv.  Xow  1  know  it  to 
be  a  fact  and  the  whole  world  could  not  change  my  ideas  from 
that  fact,  even  if  they  burned  me  at  the  stake.  We  will  con- 
tinue at  another  time. 

Thursday.  July  23.    l'H13. 

C.ood  morning.  Mr.  Hulburd.  I  will  now  continue  my  com- 
munication. I  wish  to  relate  a  circumstance  that  occurred  in 
Little  lustin's  life  and  also  in  mv  own. 


368        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

We  were  both  engaged  to  play  with  McGuire  and  Haverley's 
big  combination.  While  en  route  to  San  Francisco  one  day  in 
our  grand  and  beautiful  palace  car  I  noticed  the  Little  One  had 
a  far  away  look  in  his  eyes.  I  said,  "Justin,  you  see  something. 
What  is  it?"  For  as  much  as  ten  minutes  he  kept  perfectly  si- 
lent. I  said,  "Justin,  can't  you  tell  me  what  you  see?"  He  said, 
"Yes  Billy,  I  can.  I  see  you  surrounded  by  a  dark  cloud.  You 
seem  to  sit  right  in  the  midst  of  it.  There's  trouble  ahead  for 
you  and  I  think  it  will  commence  before  we  reach  San  Fran- 
cisco." 

On  our  way  to  the  coast  we  played  four  days  at  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah.  On  the  second  day  I  said,  "Justin,  don't  you  want 
to  look  around  the  city  and  its  suburbs?"  He  said,  "I  don't 
mind."  I  told  him  then  to  go  to  his  room  and  get  his  light  over- 
coat. I  would  go  and  hire  a  carriage  and  a  driver.  It  was  in 
the  month  of  May  and  the  air  was  balmy  and  pleasant.  He 
caught  cold  so  easily,  that  it  why  I  requested  that  he  get  his 
light  overcoat.  It  was  so  pleasant  that  I  required  none.  While 
we  were  riding  out  toward  the  Springs  he  said  to  me,  "Billy, 
I  see  you  in  that  dark  cloud  again  ;  some  one  tells  me  there  will 
be  trouble  in  your  family  affairs.  You  will  receive  a  letter  to- 
day from  a  friend  who  lives  in  San  Francisco.  They  will  break 
the  news  to  you  gently."  Then  he  remained  silent  for  some 
time.  When  he  did  speak  he  said,  "Billy,  your  engagement  for 
this  company  will  be  of  short  duration  after  we  reach  San  Fran- 
cisco." It  was.  I  only  remained  with  the  company  three  weeks. 
The  manager  broke  faith  with  me.  I  had  trouble  in  my  domes- 
tic affairs,  after  which  I  placed  my  business  condition  in  the 
keeping  of  a  friend.  Then  I  left  for  the  east,  going  direct  to 
New  York.  My  friend  kept  me  posted  from  time  to  time  where- 
in there  was  any  difficulty  with  my  family  affairs.  He  was  my 
true  friend  and  is  now  here  in  spirit  life  with  me. 

When  Justin  returned  from  San  Francisco  ahead  of  the 
company,  I  met  him  one  day  in  the  street  in  Chicago.  I  was 
walking  along  Clark  street  and  saw  him  get  out  of  a  horse-car 
at  the  corner  of  Randolph  and  Clark.  I  hailed  him  and  we  went 
to  the  parlor  of  the  Sherman  House.  After  we  had  sat  there 
for,  perhaps,  half  an  hour  talking,  he  said,  "Billy,  I  see  you  in 
that  black  cloud  acrain.  This  time  it  will  be  more  serious  for 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  369 

you  in  your  family  affairs.  Keep  up  a  brave  heart  and  you  will 
come  out  all  right.  You  know  the  old  saying,  Hilly,  'Faint  heart 
never  won  a  fair  lady.'  I  mean  by  that,  Hilly,  you  will  be  in 
the  market  again."  1  said,  "Will  it  turn  out  as  serious  as  that?" 
He  said,  "Yes,  more  serious  than  you  think  for."  And  he  told 
the  truth. 

The  last  time  I  met  him  was  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  at  the 
Peabody  Hotel.  I  was  there  with  my  own  company.  He  said 
to  me,  "Billy,  you  must  turn  around  and  take  your  company 
back  north.  The  yellow  fever  is  going  to  break  out.  It  will 
pay  you  to  lose  what  posters  they  have  put  up  in  Charleston. 
Rosa  has  given  Fred  and  me  orders  to  leave  before  the  fifteenth 
of  the  month  and  we  are  going  to  do  so." 

I  turned  around  and  went  back  by  way  of  Kentucky.  (  )ne 
morning  at  the  hotel  in  Louisville.  Ky.,  1  saw  two  men  enter 
the  breakfast  room,  very  excited.  1  was  acquainted  with  one 
of  them,  whose  name  was  George  Melburn.  He  happened  to 
look  toward  the  table  where  1  was  sitting  and  when  he  discov- 
ered me  it  seemed  as  if  he  became  more  excited  and  hollered  out 
in  a  loud  voice,  "Good  God.  Emerson,  the  vellow  fever  lias  bro- 
ken out  in  Memphis  and  my  family  is  there.  1  telegraphed  to 
them  to  lock  up  the  house  and  leave  everything,  come  here  to 
me  and  we  would  all  go  east."  I  laughed  to  think  how  true 
Justin's  prediction  had  come  to  pass.  I  told  him  to  keep  quiet 
and  remain  calm  and  there  might  be  a  possibility  of  his  family 
reaching  him  here.  While  we  were  sitting  in  the  breakfast 
room  dining  a  boy  came  in  and  handed  him  a  telegram.  lie 
read  it  aloud,  for  those  were  exciting  times.  The  telegram  read 
like  this:  "Papa,  we  have  abandoned  evervthing.  Grandpa, 
grandma,  mamma  and  all  the  children  are  seated  in  the  car.  1 
send  you  this  telegram  from  the  depot.  In  ten  minutes  we  will 
be  on  our  way  to  you  and  Louisville.  Kv."  lie  became  so  ex- 
cited he  jumped  up  from  his  chair  and  commenced  to  dance.  Me 
said  to  the  messenger  boy.  "Here's  five  dollars  for  you.  God 
bless  you.  you  have  brought  me  happv  news." 

\\hen  the  train  arrived  in  Louisville.  I  went  with  him  to 
the  depot  to  receive  his  family.  That  was  a  reunion  that  I  shall 
never  forget.  They  all  cried,  he  clasped  each  one  in  his  arms. 
taking  up  his  little  boy  the  last  one  he  said.  "Loved  ones,  fol- 


370        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

low  me."  We  went  outside  the  depot,  entered  two  carriages 
and  were  conveyed  to  the  hotel. 

He  and  his  family  left  by  the  first  train  next  morning  for 
the  east.  He  wrote  me  from  Philadelphia  saying,  "We  are  go- 
ing down  to  Atlantic  City,  New  Jersey.  I  have  engaged  rooms 
for  all  summer.  Billy,  take  a  vacation — come  down  and  see 
us."  I  went  and  passed  a  month  with  them.  It  was  one  of  the 
pleasantest  visits  I  ever  made  in  my  life.  I  think  there  must 
have  been  over  three  thousand  southern  people  there  who  had 
left  the  south  to  get  away  from  the  fever. 

You  asked  me  the  other  day  if  I  would  give  you  some  of 
my  spiritual  experiences.  I  will  so  so  now.  When  I  passed 
from  my  body  the  first  ones  whom  I  met  were  my  mother  and 
my  spirit  mate.  They  came  to  welcome  me  into  spirit  life,  as 
you  call  it.  I  was  not  at  all  surprised  at  my  condition.  I  found 
it  much  as  I  expected  to.  I  saw  no  golden  streets  or  pearly 
gates.  Xo  great  white  throne  with  a  God  sitting  on  it.  I  found 
it  all  natural  and  with  natural  beings  living  in  it,  just  as  the 
spirit  John  McCullough  had  described  it  to  me.  I  met  many 
professional  sisters  and  brothers  whom  I  had  known  while  liv- 
ing in  a  physical  body.  My  mother  and  my  true  sweetheart 
lived  in  a  pretty  little  home. 

While  we  were  sitting  in  that  home  conversing  with  each 
other  I  said,  "Mother,  where  is  father?  Why  does  he  not  come 
to  see  me?"  Mother  said,  "\Yilliam,  your  father  does  not  live 
here.  He  belongs  to  another  group.  After  awhile  we  will  lead 
you  toward  that  group.  Then  you  can  make  your  father  a  vis- 
it." I  said,  "You  and  father  are  not  harmonious  here  in  spirit 
life?"  She  said,  "Xo,  we  did  not  live  a  true,  harmonious  life 
while  living  in  the  physical  body,  William.  There  conies  a  time 
when  all  shall  be  harmony  and  all  souls  shall  be  united  in  that 
harmony.  You  must  understand,  William,  that  your  father's 
life  and  mine  are  out  of  tune  just  now.  It  is  like  this,  William, 
a  violin  played  out  of  tune  by  an  individual  who  has  not  a  per- 
fect car  is  constantly  making  discords.  So  it  is  with  male  and 
female  individuals  who  are  out  of  tune.  They  live  in  an  ele- 
ment that  produces  discord.  When  their  souls  can  become  at- 
tuned to  thai  perfect  note  of  harmony,  then  they  are  one  with 
God  for  all  time.  Your  father  and  I  never  were  capable  of 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  371 

striking  that  perfect  note,  so  you  see  we  have  to  live  apart  until 
we  can  become  united  through  soul's  love.  William,  my  son, 
you  will  learn  much  now  since  you  have  come  here  to  spirit 
life.  When  we  are  all  thoroughly  united,  we  become  sisters  and 
brothers  living  in  the  one  thought  and  that  thought  is  that  we 
are  children,  and  belong  to  the  family  of  the  great  creator  of 
Life.  You  will  learn  to  understand  that  we  have  spirit  mates 
here.  That  is,  a  male  and  a  female  live  together,  and  they  can 
only  do  so  through  the  unification  of  Love."  I  said,  "Then  I 
suppose  you  have  a  spirit  mate."  She  said,  "Oh  yes,  my  spirit 
mate  is  a  little  boy  who  carried  me  across  a  brook  on  his  back 
when  I  was  a  little  school  girl.  \Vhen  we  had  reached  the  other 
side  of  the  brook  and  he  had  placed  me  safely  on  the  grass, 
there  we  confided  our  childish  love  for  each  other.  That  boy 
is  now  my  spirit  mate.  He  will  be  here  presently  and  I  will 
introduce  him  to  you." 

"You  see  I  have  taken  charge  of  your  spirit  mate  and  had 
her  live  here  with  me  in  my  home,"  for  which  I  thanked  my 
mother.  I  held  them  both  to  my  breast  in  a  loving  embrace  and 
kissed  them  with  a  true  kiss  of  Love. 

I  visited  my  father  at  his  spirit  home  and  found  he  was 
living  with  his  spirit  mate.  Each  day  I  traveled  over  that  por- 
tion of  the  spirit  world  connected  with  our  surroundings.  I 
found  happy  and  unhappy  spirits,  just  as  their  past  lives  had 
created  a  condition  for  them  to  live  in.  1  discovered  where  they 
were  thoroughly  harmonized  they  lived  in  the  realm  of  music: 
their  lives  were  that  of  a  constant  song. 

Mr.  Hulburd,  I  have  made  the  discovery  there  is  much 
suffering  here  in  spirit  life.  Xo  doubt  you  would  like  to  know 
why  this  is  so.  I  will  tell  you.  The  coarse,  crude,  selfish  na- 
tures of  some  people  would  not  advance  when  the  opportunity 
was  presented  to  them.  \Yhile  living  in  the  physical  body,  they 
would  rather  live  for  all  that  was  lustful,  their  avaricious  na- 
tures went  out  to  that  part  of  life  where  they  could  only  give 
something  by  their  selfish  condition  that  would  bring  them  much 
pleasure  or  wealth.  They  had  no  charity  for  their  poor,  down- 
trodden sisters  and  brothers,  while  living  in  the  phvsical  body. 
They  grafted  onto  every  condition  that  they  touched  or  came 
en  rapport  with.  Their  low.  licentious  natures  became  the  pre- 


372        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

dominant  part  of  their  lives.  In  connection  with  that  their 
whole  natures  seemed  to  be  filled  up  with  the  idea  of  grasping 
wealth.  When  it  came  to  things  spiritual,  then  they  became 
misers  of  the  worst  kind.  Xo  part  of  their  nature  being  moral, 
they  could  not  be  spiritual.  Their  luxurious,  riotous  condi- 
tions in  life  made  them  vampires  upon  the  human  race.  They 
had  no  spiritual  feeling  for  those  who  were  spiritually  inclined. 
Their  whole  natures  were  riotous  to  that  which  was  moral, 
chaste  and  perfect  in  life.  The  idea  of  true  love  never  had  en- 
tered their  minds,  all  parts  of  their  nature  was  that  of  sloth  and 
degradation.  Those  individuals  suffer  much  in  spirit  life.  While 
living  in  a  physical  body,  they  contaminated  and  polluted  ev- 
erything they  touched. 

There  are  other  individuals  living  here  in  spirit  life  whose 
whole  existence  seems  to  be  that  of  a  perfect  love  :  through  liv- 
ing a  pure  life,  they  have  made  the  discovery  they  are  divine 
and  divinity  is  the  expression  of  their  soul.  It  is  a  grand  sight 
to  behold  them  if  you  have  any  true  love  in  your  nature  for 
things  spiritual.  I  have  watched  and  seen  that  true  spirituality 
is  the  true  God  of  the  human  race. 

There  is  a  class  of  people  also  in  spirit  world  that  I  have 
come  in  touch  with,  such  as  the  progressive  mind  living  in  the 
physical  body  calls  Christian  bigots  (loud  raps)  their  whole 
natures  are  so  impregnated  with  the  orthodox  idea  of  a  man 
Saviour,  who  went  by  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Xazareth,  they  have 
shut  themselves  up  within  a  wall  of  Christian  principles,  as 
they  call  it.  Some  are  waiting  for  the  Virgin  Mary  to  plead 
with  her  son  for  their  redemption.  They  want  to  become  puri- 
fied in  order  that  they  may  look  respectable,  before  they  enter 
the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  They  dread  the  eyes  of  that  terrible 
God,  for  they  feel  that  he  would  look  them  all  over  before  de- 
ciding what  he  shall  do  with  them. 

There  are  others  who  are  still  waiting  for  the  man  Jesus, 
their  Saviour,  to  come  to  their  rescue  and  release  them  from 
the  condition  that  they  have  found  themselves  in,  in  spirit  life. 
They  were  promised  so  much  by  the  lying  tongues  of  preachers, 
that  they  still  remain  waiting,  waiting,  praying  and  singing  for 
the  Messiah  to  come  to  lead  them  into  the  presence  of  his 
father  God. 


WILLIAM  EMERSON  373 

I  was  surprised  at  the  information  I  had  received  concern- 
ing those  beings,  for  they  are  not  thoroughly  advanced  enough 
to  be  classified  as  divine  spirits.  Many  of  them  have  been  wait- 
ing in  that  condition  for  hundreds  of  years.  It  is  distressing  to 
one's  nature  to  see  the  hold  that  bigotry  and  superstition  have 
held  those  creatures  in  that  condition. 

I  have  also  made  the  discovery  that  there  are  great  multi- 
tudes of  minds  here  that  hold  to  the  same  beliefs  they  had  while 
living  in  the  physical  body.  The  variety  of  minds  and  natures 
here  are  much  the  same  as  those  that  still  live  in  physical  bod- 
ies on  your  earth  plane. 

No  doubt  it  will  surprise  you  that  we  have  here  in  spirit 
life  operas,  dramatic  plays  and  other  performances  much  the 
same  as  we  had  while  living  in  a  physical  body.  There  are  low 
grades  of  music  and  high  grades  of  music  that  the  spirits  call 
the  perfect  note  of  celibacy.  There  is  no  giving  in  marriage 
here.  It  is  the  desire  of  all  progressive  minds,  to  reach  that 
"Perfect  note  of  celibacy"  where  music  reigns  supreme.  You, 
who  live  on  the  earth  plane,  think  you  have  great  singing  choirs 
in  your  churches,  great  choruses  in  your  philharmonic  societies. 
Mr.  Hulburd,  I  wish  you  could  hear  some  of  the  divine  music 
that  I  have  heard,  choruses  wherein  a  perfect  note  has  been 
struck  in  such  perfect  tune  by  over  three  hundred  thousand 
voices.  It  just  seemed  to  me  there  could  be  nothing  more  di- 
vine than  that.  They  tell  me  beyond,  it  is  grander  still.  When 
we  reach — they  say — the  condition  of  the  perfect  perfectness 
all  is  music  ;  it  is  utterly  impossible — they  tell  me — for  a  note 
to  be  produced  out  of  tune,  as  all  is  Harmony.  I  long  to  reach 
that  condition,  as  my  whole  make-up  is  that  of  Music. 

They  tell  me  I  must  become  a  missionary,  enter  the  camp 
of  religious  bigots,  sing  for  them  :  at  the  same  time  I  must  sing 
the  compositions  of  my  own  soul.  Through  that  condition  I 
can  wake  up  the  powers  of  Reason  that  are  located  in  their 
minds.  I  will  be  able  to  bring  them  out  into  the  true  light  of 
progression,  whereby  they  will  discover  it  is  only  through  their 
own  salvation,  that  they  can  be  saved  from  that  orthodox  sleep 
of  a  religious  man  made  God.  I  am  willing  to  do  anything  to 
expiate  for  my  past  crimes.  I  was  taught  in  the  Catholic  church 
if  I  would  only  repent  at  the  last,  receive  absolution,  believe  in 


374         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

the  Catholic  church,  why,  I  was  saved  and  would  go  right  to 
God.  I  was  like  millions  of  poor,  deluded  minds,  held  in  bond- 
age of  priestcraft  and  superstition. 

It  was  a  happy  day  for  me  when  I  made  the  discovery  that 
spiritualism  was  a  Truth  and  that  the  communication  with  our 
loved  ones  could  take  place  between  the  spirit  life  and  those 
living  in  physical  bodies.  I  felt  that  I  had  been  resurrected 
from  the  sleep  of  death  called  the  Catholic  church.  It  is  a  dead 
sleep  where  you  are  lead  by  the  nose  by  drunken  priests,  cursed 
by  papal  laws  that  are  brought  into  action  and  introduced  into 
the  Catholic  church  by  the  orders  of  a  vampire  called  the  Pope 
of  Rome.  AYhen  I  once  had  received  that  beautiful  scientific 
knowledge  of  spirit  return  to  me  the  Pope  and  all  his  emissaries 
were  walking  devils  in  sheep's  clothing.  The  Catholic  church 
has  been  the  greatest  curse  to  civilization  that  the  world  ever 
had  thrust  upon  it.  From  its  first  days  of  organization  the  poor, 
weak  minds  of  the  ignorant  masses  have  become  its  bond 
slaves ;  From  the  Pope  down  to  his  most  humble  servant  they 
have  been  filled  with  the  lying  corruption  of  paganism.  I  thank 
the  good  spirits  and  the  great  God — if  there  is  such  an  intelli- 
gence, which  I  think  there  must  be — that  I  have  been  released 
from  the  bonds  of  popery  and  drank  in  the  true  wine  of  spiritual 
knowledge,  not  that  which  has  been  fermented  from  the  grape 
vine,  but  that  wine  that  gave  me  the  true  light  and  imbued  my 
whole  nature  with  the  truth  of  spiritual  freedom. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  when 
it  is  read  by  my  professional  sisters  and  brothers  it  will  open 
their  minds  to  a  light  that  will  give  them  confidence  in  immor- 
tality. The  beacon  light  of  all  time  in  which  they  will  find  the 
spiritual  philosophy  is  the  guide-post  to  Truth. 

I  leave  my  love  to  Little  Justin  and  I  am  glad  to  see  that 
this  work  will  be  given  to  the  reading  public  through  his  me- 
diumship.  It  will  open  the  eves  of  many  who  have  been  the 
slaves  of  creed,  and  as  they  say  in  the  craft,  "It  is  finished." 
Good  dav,  friend. 


Jane  Davenport  Landers 

Chapter  XXXIV 


Thursday,  December  10,  1903. 

Good  morning,  sir.  I  must  beg  your  pardon  for  intruding 
on  your  privacy  this  morning,  but  it  has  -been  my  desire  for 
over  three  months  to  contribute  a  few  lines  to  Little  Justin's 
life  and  also  for  your  publication.  He  is  very  weak  this  mor- 
ning and  I  know  it  is  selfish  of  me  to  use  his  organism.  You 
must  understand,  dear  friend,  it  takes  some  time  for  one  to  lay 
aside  his  selfish  nature.  I  hope  I  will  do  him  no  wrong  on 
harm  to  his  physical  body.  It  is  a  great  desire  with  the  spirit 
to  control  when  it  has  anything  upon  its  mind  that  it  wishes  to 
convey  to  the  friends  of  an  individual  and  also  to  the  public. 

Before  I  proceed  any  further  I  will  give  you  my  name. 
Mrs.  Jane  Davenport  Landers.  I  was  known  to  the  public  as 
a  Shakespearean  actress.  The  character  that  I  loved  to  play 
the  best  was  the  unhappy  Mary  Stuart,  the  Queen  of  Scotland, 
whose  blood  runs  through  the  veins  of  this  little  medium. 

When  I  first  saw  ''La  Petite  Blanche"  he  was  a  little  wee 
tot  and  oh,  such  pretty  red  cheeks.  I  was  a  young  girl  then 
and  with  other  friends  1  attended  a  performance  at  the  old 
Chambers  street  theatre,  Xew  York. 

Charlotte  Cushman  was  the  star.  That  was  in  the  days 
before  she  became  the  "Queen  of  Tragedy."  During  the  per- 
formance of  the  second  act,  a  little  wee  mite  of  a  creature  came 
on  the  stage  and  sang  a  song.  \Yhat  a  pretty  voice  it  had,  and 
powerful,  too.  for  its  size.  I  noticed  during  the  singing  it  pro- 
nounced its  words  with  a  broken  accent.  For  an  encore  it  came 
out  and  danced  the  "Highland  Fling."  How  quick  his  feet 
moved  in  time  to  the  music.  When  they  called  the  little  midget 
out  again  it  walked  down  to  the  footlights  and  said  to  the  peo- 


376        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

pie,  "I  canna  dee  any  mair  an  if  ye  dinna  like  it  I  dinna  care," 
which  made  the  people  laugh.  He  threw  kisses  to  the  people 
and  then  ran  off  the  stage. 

An  old  lady  sitting  back  of  me  leaned  forward  and  said  to 
me,  "I  wonder  whose  little  baby  that  can  be?  It's  such  a  little 
creature  and  ought  to  be  home  in  bed.  I  wonder  that  its  mother 
would  allow  it  to  go  on  to  the  stage."  That  was  the  first  time 
that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  your  medium. 

Some  time  had  passed  before  I  saw  him  again.  Just  how 
many  years  I  do  not  recollect.  The  next  time  I  saw  him  he  was 
the  Page  in  "Lucretia  Borgia"  and  sang  the  drinking  song  at 
the  banquet  table. 

During  one  of  -my  long  visits  in  New  York  City,  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  beautiful  Lizzie  Weston  Davenport. 
The  people  of  the  house  where  I  was  stopping  and  myself  were 
invited  by  Lizzie  to  witness  one  of  Edwin  Forrest's  great  per- 
formances in  the  character  of  William  Tell.  During  the  per- 
formance, "La  Petite  Blanche"  sang  a  Swiss  aria  to  a  waltz 
measure  and  danced  while  he  was  singing.  He  was  the  admira- 
tion of  the  audience  present  on  that  occasion. 

After  the  theatre  we  joined  Lizzie,  Edwin  Forrest  and  an- 
other gentleman  whose  name  I  do  not  remember,  to  partake  of 
a  late  supper.  While  the  conversation  was  passing  around  the 
table,  Mr.  Forrest  addressed  me,  saying,  "Miss  Davenport,  what 
did  you  think  of  my  little  baby  who  sang  and  danced  tonight?" 
I  said  I  thought  he  was  beautiful  in  everything  he  did,  but  oh, 
how  young  to  have  such  confidence  in  himself.  Mr.  Forrest 
said,  "He  is  not  as  young  as  he  looks.  The  old  Scotch  woman 
whom  he  lives  with,  says  he  is  fourteen  years  of  age."  I  uttered 
an  exclamation,  "Can  it  be  possible?  Why,  then  he  is  a  dwarf." 
He  said,  "Did  you  notice  that  kick  he  gave  with  his  little  foot? 
It  brings  the  gallery  every  time."  Lizzie  laughed  and  said,  "He 
is  the  sweetest  little  mortal  you  ever  knew  outside  of  his  tem- 
per." I  said,  "Is  it  possible  that  that  little  midget  has  a  tem- 
per?" Mr.  Forrest  laughed  and  said.  "I  wish  you  could  hear 
him  when  he  is  angry.  He  is  an  adept  in  the  art  of  swearing. 
When  he  gets  angry  at  me  because  I  scold  him  sometimes,  he 
calls  me  an  old  duffer  and  the  worst  actor  in  the  wrorld.  If  I 
was  playing  with  old  Charlotte  I'd  be  only  a  stipe.  He  will  say 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         377 

to  me,  'Me  and  Charlotte  know  how  things  ought  to  be  played.' 
Perhaps  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  afterward  he  will  be  sitting  on 
my  knee  telling  me  what  a  good  man  I  am  and  he  will  be  my  boy 
if  I'll  behave  myself  and  give  him  some  pennies  to  buy  peanuts 
with,"  which  brought  quite  a  laugh  from  the  friends  present. 
Lizzie  said,  "You  can't  help  but  love  him  after  all,  but  I  am 
afraid,  dear  Jane,  he  will  never  know  the  value  of  money.  The 
company  calls  him  the  'Little  Witch,'  "  which  made  us  all  laugh. 
The  other  morning  he  said  to  Mr.  Forrest,  "Look  out  for  your 
money,  or  you're  going  to  lose  it.  I  saw  a  man  take  your  purse 
out  of  your  pocket."  Mr.  Forrest  laughed  and  said  he'd  look 
out  for  the  man. 

That  same  morning,  after  rehearsal,  while  Mr.  Forrest  was 
walking  toward  the  Astor  House,  a  woman  fainted  and  fell  on 
the  sidewalk,  a  crowd  of  people  being  drawn  to  the  spot  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.  As  Mr.  Forrest  mingled  with  the  crowd, 
he  felt  a  hand  enter  his  pocket;  he  grabbed  it  in  time,  just  as  the 
hand  was  drawing  out  his  purse.  In  those  days  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen carried  silk  purses  with  a  ring  in  the  centre  that  made 
a  division  of  the  purse  ;  at  one  end  they'd  have  gold,  at  the  other 
silver.  He  had  the  man,  who  turned  out  to  be  an  old  pickpocket 
and  burglar  whom  the  authorities  were  looking  for,  arrested. 
That  instance  took  place  long  before  the  days  of  spirit  rapping 
through  the  Fox  sisters. 

I  made  a  request  that  Lizzie  would  bring  the  little  creature 
some  day  to  dinner.  Mr.  Forrest  laughed  and  said,  "Miss  Dav- 
enport, you  will  have  to  be  careful  how  you  talk  to  his  High- 
ness." I  said  to  Mr.  Forrest,  "We  will  be  pleased  and  feel  it 
an  honor  to  have  you  accompany  Miss  Lizzie  and  the  'Little 
One'  to  our  home  on  that  occasion."  Three  days  afterward  we 
had  the  honor  of  receiving  our  guests.  I  myself  received  them 
at  the  door  and  ushered  them  into  the  parlor. 

I  will  now  describe  the  way  the  "Little  One"  was  dressed. 
He  had  on  a  pair  of  pants  that  were  too  large  by  three  sizes 
for  his  little  legs.  A  little  jacket,  made  of  blue  cloth,  and  a 
woman's  lace  collar  around  his  neck,  a  pair  of  blue  yarn  stock- 
ings on  his  legs  and  little  low  shoes  on  his  feet,  tied  with  a 
black  silk  ribbon,  a  straw  hat,  with  a  blue  ribbon  around  it,  on 
his  head,  lie  asked  me  to  hang  up  his  hat  in  the  hall  for  him. 


378        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and  told  me  to  be  very  careful  of  it,  for  it  cost  fifteen  cents,  in 
the  Bowery,  then  he  caught  hold  of  my  hand,  saying,  "Are  you 
the  mother  of  everybody  in  this  house?"  I  said,  "No  my  dear,  I'm 
not  married  yet."  "It's  too  bad,"  he  said,  "there's  lots  of  men 
walking  on  Broadway  and  you  might  get  one  if  you  tried  hard." 
I  said,  "Perhaps  some  day  I'll  take  your  advice  and  when  I'm 
married  I'll  have. you  come  and  make  me  a  visit."  He  said, 
"Won't  that  be  bully,"  then  he  looked  up  and  laughed  in  my 
face,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "Pick  out  a  good  looking  one; 
they're  the  best  kind."  I  stooped  down  and  kissed  him,  saying 
I  would  take  his  advice. 

This  conversation  took  place  in  the  hall.  Miss  Lizzie  came 
to  the  parlor  door  and  said,  "What  are  you  folks  talking  about?" 
I  told  her  I  was  receiving  some  good  advice  on  the  question  of 
marriage.  She  laughed  and  said,  "He  has  had  wonderful  ex- 
perience and  of  course,  is  capable  of  giving  you  good  advice  on 
that  question.  After  \ve  had  been  in  the  parlor  some  time  Mr. 
Forrest  said,  "Come  here,  Pet,  and  sit  on  my  knee  and  sing  one 
of  your  pretty  Scotch  songs  for  the  friends."  He  sat  upon  Mr. 
Forrest's  knee  and  sang  the  pretty  Scotch  song,  "It's  Within  a 
Mile  of  Edinboro  Toon."  They  laughed  and  applauded  him ; 
then  he  sang,  "I'm  O'er  Young  to  Marry  Yet." 

Then  Mr.  Forrest  said,  "Now  Pet,  sing  for  them,  'The 
Campbells  are  Coming.' "  He  got  down  from  Mr.  Forrest's 
knee  and  commenced  to  sing,  marching  up  and  down  the  par- 
lor. I  can  see  that  quaint  little  figure  now,  marching  up  and 
down  the  parlor  with  those  large  pants  on,  and  his  beautiful  long 
curly  hair  hanging  down  his  back.  When  he  had  finished  sing- 
ing, Mrs.  Pebble,  the  lady  of  the  house,  clasped  him  to  her 
bosom  and  hugged  and  kissed  him,  saying,  "Little  darling,  I 
wish  you  belonged  to  me."  He  said,  "I  belong  to  Scotland; 
there's  where  my  grandfather  lived  and  he's  the  biggest  man 
you  ever  saw.  He  could  kill  twenty  Englishmen  at  one  time 
and  don't  take  any  shenanigan  from  anybody,"  which  made  us 
all  laugh.  After  that  we  were  invited  to  the  dining  room.  As 
the  friends  were  leaving  the  parlor,  he  ran  up  and  caught  hold 
of  Lizzie's  hand,  saying,  "'Lizzie,  I  like  you  best  of  them  all." 
So,  you  see,  he  was  no  hypocrite. 

When  we  were  all  seated  at  the  table  Miss  Davenport  said, 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         379 

"Would  you  like  to  hear  him  sing  grace?"  They  said  they 
would.  He  sang  it  in  the  Gaelic  tongue,  which  sounded  so  odd 
and  quaint  we  all  commenced  to  laugh.  While  we  were  laugh- 
ing a  newspaper  came  from  some  part  of  the  room,  rolled  up, 
and  hit  Mr.  Forrest  on  top  of  the  head.  Then  the  laughing  be- 
came more  boisterous  than  ever.  Then  the  chandelier  com- 
menced to  shake.  Mr.  Pebble  said,  "Just  look  at  that.  What 
does  it  mean?"  He  had  no  sooner  uttered  the  words,  when  my 
napkin  was  seized  by  some  force,  thrown  at  him  and  hit  him 
in  the  face.  Mrs.  Pebble  turned  pale  and  said,  "In  the  name  of 
our  Lord,  what  does  this  all  mean?"  Lizzie  said,  "Mrs.  Pebble, 
do  not  be  frightened,  it  will  come  out  all  right."  Right  after 
that  a  cold  breeze  seemed  to  pass  through  the  dining  room.  Just 
then  the  Little  One's  eyes  had  a  peculiar  look  in  them  and  a 
voice  spoke  through  his  lips,  saying,  "Joe  Pebble,  if  you  don't 
watch  that  new  man  you  have  taken  into  the  store  he  will  set 
it  on  fire.  He  is  in  the  habit  of  getting  drunk."  Mr.  Forrest 
said,  "Who  is  this  that  is  speaking?"  The  voice  said,  "Will 
Hutchinson."  Mrs.  Pebble  screamed  and  trembled  so  that  her 
husband  had  to  hold  her  in  his  arms.  The  spirit  was  that  of 
her  brother.  He  said,  "Sister  dear,  don't  be  frightened ;  it  is 
your  brother  Will  who  is  talking  to  you  now."  Mr.  Pebble  said, 
"Will,  if  this  is  your  spirit,  where  is  your  body,  and  when  did 
you  leave  it?"  The  spirit  said,  "My  body  has  been  devoured  by 
the  fishes  of  the  sea.  On  the  27th  day  of  May  the  barque  Ellen 
went  down  with  all  on  board,  off  Cape  Hatteras,  and  I  went 
down  with  them."  Mrs.  Pebble  then  fainted.  Mr.  Pebble  be- 
came angry  and  looked  very  pale.  He  said  in  a  loud  voice,  "Take 
that  imp  of  the  devil  out  of  this  house.  I  am  afraid  he  has  been 
the  means  of  killing  my  wife."  The  Little  One  jumped  up  on 
to  the  chair  and  cried  out  with  all  his  might,  "You  and  your 
damned  old  house  can  go  to  hell,  damn  you.  that's  what  I  get 
for  associating  with  common  people."  It  sounded  so  comical 
that  Mr.  Forrest  laughed.  He  took  the  Little  One  up  in  his 
arms  and  carried  him  out  of  the  house,  laughing  as  he  went,  the 
Little  One  looking  over  his  shoulder  at  us  and  swearing  like  a 
pirate.  A  Miss  Ida  Lewiston.  who  was  known  afterward  to  the 
public,  got  down  on  her  knees  and  prayed  that  the  Lord  God 
Almighty  and  his  son.  Jesus  Christ,  would  come  and  protect 


380        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

them  and  their  house  from  getting  on  fire,  as  one  of  the  imps 
of  satan  had  been  there,  today  in  the  disguise  of  a  beautiful  child 
and  fascinated  them  with  his  beautiful  singing.  Mr.  Pebble 
said,  "Oh  Lord  God,  have  mercy  on  us.  I  feel  the  hot  breath 
of  hell  on  my  face  now."  After  working  two  hours  over  Mrs. 
Pebble  she  came  back  to  consciousness.  When  she  could  speak 
she  said,  "I  have  been  in  the  spirit  world  and  saw  my  brother. 
It  is  true,  friends,  he  went  down  with  the  barque  Ellen  off  Cape 
Hattenis."  From  that  time  forth  Mrs.  Pebble  became  a  medium 
and  had  wonderful  clairvoyant  powers,  which  \vere  brought  into 
use  by  her  describing  spirits  to  her  friends. 

That  was  my  second  introduction  to  Little  Puss.  After  Mr. 
Pebble  passed  to  spirit  life  Mrs.  Pebble  became  Mrs.  Win- 
throp,  well  known  to  the  New  York  public  as  a  clairvoyant.  \Ye 
will  continue  at  another  time. 

Friday,  December  11,  1903. 

Good  morning,  friend.  'You  will  have  to  allow  me  the  honor 
of  being  pardoned  once  more.  I  see  it  is  somewhat  cloudy.  I 
hope  my  controlling  his  organ  of  speech  will  do  no  harm  to 
the  medium.  It  is  really  a  wonder,  to  look  upon  him  now  en- 
tering his  76th  year,  and  to  recall  him  as  when  I  first  saw  him. 
He  has  grown  some  since  then.  For  a  long  while  he  remained 
a  little  creature.  A  strong  affection  took  place  that  brought  us 
close  together  and  created  a  lasting  friendship.  As  I  look  back, 
what  a  fragile  little  individual  he  was — full  of  vim  and  fire. 

I  visited  his  home  several  times— that  is,  after  we  became 
fast  friends.  During  one  of  my  visits  to  New  York,  I  attended 
a  performance  at  the  old  Broadway  Theatre.  The  name  of  the 
play  was  "The  Shipwrecked  Sailor."  He  sustained  the  part  of 
the  captain's  child.  In  the  representation  of  the  character  I 
think  he  was  the  prettiest  little  creature  I  saw,  dressed  in  sailor 
pants  and  a  little  shirt  on,  a  sailor  hat  upon  his  head. 

The  captain  comes  on  deck  with  Little  Puss  sitting  on  his 
shoulder.  \Yhen  the  sailors  see  him  they  all  cheer,  saying, 
"Captain,  can't  the  little  shipmate  sing  us  a  song?"  His  father, 
the  captain,  says,  "How  is  that,  my  son?  Do  you  want  to  sing?" 
He  says,  "In  course  I  do,  my  hearty."  then  he  sings  that  old 
English  ballad,  "Ship  Ahoy,"  with  all  the  crew  joining  in  the 
chorus.  The  actor  who  played  the  captain  was  one  of  the  hand- 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         381 

some  actors  of  that  day :  his  name  was  E.  Eddy  and  with  the 
Little  ( )ne  sitting  on  his  shoulder,  ye  Gods,  it  was  a  pose  for 
a  great  artist  to  place  on  canvas — such  a  pose  as  that  I  never 
saw  before  nor  since. 

The  captain  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  stage  with  the  Little 
One  on  his  shoulder.  While  he  was  singing  he  grabbed  his  long 
curls  and  threw  them  over  his  father's  head.  Part  of  them  re- 
mained on  his  father's  head  while  the  others  fell  on  his  father's 
breast.  It  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  pictures  that  human 
or  spiritual  eyes  could  look  upon. 

After  he  had  finished  singing  the  applause  was  great.  His 
father  kissed  him  and  placed  him  on  the  stage.  The  orchestra 
played  a  sailor's  hornpipe  and  the  Little  One  danced  to  the 
music.  I  can  remember  in  one  part  of  the  dance  where  the 
Little  One  came  down  the  stage  on  his  heels,  at  the  same  time 
waving  his  hat  in  the  air ;  the  applause  was  great. 

When  he  had  finished  the  dance  and  made  a  sailor's  bow 
to  the  audience  the  people  screamed,  yelled  and  applauded.  The 
sailors  all  make  a  rush  for  him,  when  the  father  rushes  in  front 
of  them,  lifts  up  his  boy  and  placing  him  on  his  shoulder  com- 
mences to  sing  "Ship  Ahoy,"  while  the  whole  crew  joins  in.  The 
curtain  goes  down  while  they  are  singing.  That  was  the  finish 
of  the  third  act. 

The  next  time  that  I  met  "Little  Puss"  was  at  a  banquet 
given  at  the  St.  Xicholas  Hotel  on  Broadway.  There  were  many 
professional  people  present  on  that  occasion.  lie  came  in  with 
an  actor  who  bore  the  name  of  Dollv  Davenport.  The  beauti- 
ful Lucille  sang  on  that  occasion. 

The  next  time  1  saw  him  was  at  the  Ilerron  home  in  Xew 
York,  on  Broome  street,  near  Broadway.  There  he  came  with 
Mr.  Forrest,  who  was  playing  an  engagement  at  the  Broadway 
Theatre.  I  remember  that  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  family  pre- 
sented him  with  a  beautiful  book  full  of  illustrations  copied 
from  paintings.  1  remember  he  brought  the  book  into  the  din- 
ing room,  placed  it  on  a  chair,  then  sat  down  on  it,  which  made 
Mr.  Forrest  and  the  guests  laugh.  Mr.  Forrest  said.  "Pet.  why 
did  you  bring  your  book  in  here?"  He  said.  "Because  I  know 
where  it  is  now." 

1  hiring  the  two  hours  following,  while  the  guests  remained 


THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

at  the  table,  there  were  several  little  speeches  made  by  the  gen- 
tlemen present.  Naturally  Mr.  Forrest  was  asked  to  favor  them 
first.  \Yhen  Mr.  Forrest  stood  up  to  oblige  the  friends,  the 
"Little  One"  said  to  him,  "Old  man,  don't  get  off  any  of  your 
fish  stories  now.  Tell  them  about  Jim  and  the  balking  mule." 
That  sent  all  the  guests  off  into  a  big  laugh.  I  never  can  forget 
it  through  all  eternity.  When  we  were  about  to  adjourn  to  the 
parlor  a  young  miss  about  fourteen,  who  was  a  niece  of  the  fam- 
ily, said  to  the  hostess,  "Auntie,  why  don't  you  ask  the  little  boy 
to  say  something?"  She  asked  Little  Puss  if  he  wouldn't  ad- 
dress the  company  with  some  of  his  beautiful  thoughts.  Mr. 
Forrest  said,  "Stand  up.  Pet,  and  say  something  nice  to  the 
friends  present."  He  stood  up,  holding  his  book,  and  was  about 
to  speak  when  a  maiden  lady  said,  "Dear,  I  think  you  had  bet- 
ter lay  your  book  down  while  you  speak.  You  can  use  your 
arms  better  then.''  He  looked  at  her  and  said,  "You  old  cur- 
mudgeon, is  the  book  yours?"  Just  then  the  book  was  seized 
out  of  his  arms — for  it  was  quite  a  large  book — and  it  was  thrown 
into  the  lap  of  a  Mr.  Hulburd;  in  after  days  that  gentleman  was 
called  Professor  Hulburd  (rap.)  They  were  rapping  then  for 
me  to  tell  you  where  he  lived.  The  last  I  heard  of  him  I  was 
informed  that  lie  lived  somewhere  on  Second  Avenue.  That  Mr. 
Hulburd  was  a  second  cousin  to  the  medium.  It  startled  the 
guests  present  to  see  the  book  pass  through  space  and  drop  into 
Mr.  Hulburd's  lap.  A  Doctor  Jennings  present  said,  "That  is  a 
physical  demonstration  that  has  taken  place  through  spirit 
p<  »wer." 

Thev  all  looked  at  him  in  wonder.  Mr.  Herron  said,  "Doc- 
tor, you  don't  mean  to  tell  us  there  are  spirits  here?"  Before 
the  Doctor  got  a  chance  to  answer,  "Little  Puss"  said,  "If  it 
hadn't  been  for  that  old  curmudgeon  over  there  I  was  going  to 
tell  about  Tim  and  the  bucking  mule,"  which  brought  a  laugh. 
The  maiden  lady  was  Doctor  Jennings'  sister. 

Mrs.  flerron  said.  "Xow,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  will  ad- 
journ to  the  parlor  and  have  some  music."  Puss  said  he  wanted 
his  book.  Mr.  Hulburd  handed  him  the  book  and  while  he  did 
so  some  invisible  hand  slapped  him  on  the  cheek.  He  said  he 
could  feel  it  just  as  plain  as  any  physical  hand  that  ever  touched 
his  face  in  his  life.  AYhen  in  the  parlor  a  beautiful  young  lady 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS        383 

named  Miss  Glover  said  to  "Little  Puss,"  "My  dear,  may  I  kiss 
you?"  The  Little  One  said,  "All  right."  She  took  him  in  her 
arms,  kissed  and  hugged  him.  She  cried  out,  "How  strange — 
that  was  a  man's  lip  with  a  mustache  kissed  me  then."  She 
turned  pale,  her  face  became  white  almost  as  if  all  the  blood 
had  left  it.  Mr.  Forrest  said,  "Don't  be  frightened,  Miss  Glover. 
He  is  a  strange  little  creature  and  strange  things  happen  where 
he  is."  Just  then  she  jumped  to  her  feet  and  screamed,  "Oh 
God,  look  there.  See  those  two  armies  fighting.  Look  there  at 
the  Little  One  riding  a  cream  colored  horse  alongside  of  a  large 
military  man.  I  could  tell  that  man  if  I  ever  saw  him  again." 
(A  rap)  then  she  fainted.  They  laid  her  on  a  red  velvet  sofa. 
Doctor  Jennings  magnetized  her  and  brought  her  back  to  con- 
sciousness. After  that  I  was  told  she  saw  many  visions  on  dif- 
ferent occasions. 

One  day  afterward,  just  how  many  years  I  cannot  tell  you 
now,  as  I  fail  to  remember,  Miss  Glover  and  I  were  sitting  in  a 
window  on  Broadway,  looking  at  the  military  passing  by.  At 
the  head  rode  a  large  man  on  a  black  charger.  As  I  remember 
it  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  horses  I  ever  looked  upon. 
When  the  horse  and  his  rider  came  right  opposite  to  where  we 
were  sitting  Miss  Glover  said.  "There.  Jane,  is  the  man  I  saw 
in  my  vision.  I  wonder  who  it  can  be?"  A  man  who  stood 
back  of  us  said,  "That  is  General  Winfielcl  Scott."  Then  she 
said.  "I  wonder  in  what  way  'Little  Puss'  can  be  connected 
with  him  ?" 

After  the  parade  had  passed  and  we  had  reached  our  home — 
for  you  must  understand  that  an  actress'  home  is  wherever  her 
apartments  are — while  we  were  sitting  in  my  drawing  room  and 
gossiping  over  a  cup  of  tea.  she  let  the  cup  and  saucer  fall  to 
the  floor  and  screamed  out.  "Oh  God,  Jane,  there  are  those  two 
armies  again,  meeting  in  battle.  I  can  tell  the  color  of  their 
clothing  now.  ( )ne  is  blue  and  the  other  is  gray.  I  see  'Little 
Puss'  again,  sitting  on  a  horse  alongside  of  a  good  sized  man 
la  rap — another  rap)  but  not  that  bi^r  man  that  I  saw  in  the 
other  vision.  I  wonder  what  it  can  all  mean  and  why  our  'Lit- 
tle Puss'  is  there?  Look,"  she  said.  "Can't  you  see.  Jane?  There 
is  our  'Little  Puss'  on  a  black  horse,  this  time  dressed  as  a  little 
old  woman,  but  I  know  his  face.  What  can  it  mean?  just  see. 


384        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

the  scene  is  changed.  I  see  him  as  a  boy  enter  an  officer's  tent, 
gets  up  on  the  officer's  knee  and  sings  for  him.  Xow  the  officer 
is  kissing  him.  He  opens  his  coat  and  puts  one  of  the  Little 
One's  hands  inside  of  his  breast ;  the  Little  One  laughs  and 
tickles  the  officer  under  the  chin  with  his  other  hand.  Oh,  those 
eyes,  those  eyes,  they  are  fascinating  that  officer.  I  see  the  of- 
ficer kissing  him  again  and  I  hear  the  words,  Jane,  'Sweet  one, 
you  are  mine.'  "  She  burst  out  crying  and  cried  as  if  her  heart 
would  break.  I  said,  "Oh,  Nellie,  don't  cry  so.  I  wish  you  did 
not  see  such  visions.  I  am  afraid  some  of  them  will  affect  your 
reason — but  on  second  thought,  perhaps  you  are  seeing  some 
scenes  of  a  new  play  that  will  be  produced  at  one  of  the  thea- 
tres." She  said.  "Oh  no,  dear  Jane  (rap)  I  feel  those  are  scenes 
in  real  life,  but  what  our  Little  Puss  will  have  to  do  with  it  I 
cannot  tell.  Oh  Jane,  clear,  I  wish  he  did  not  have  those  eyes. 
I  am  afraid,  dear,  when  he  grows  taller  those  eyes  will  be  the 
ruin  of  some  man.  You  know  as  well  as  I  do  those  are  the  eyes 
of  a  female  and  not  of  a  male.  Haven't  you  noticed,  whenever 
we  have  met  him  in  society,  he  attracts  the  men?  Those  eyes 
are  a  magnet,  dear  Jane,  and  that  is  why  so  many  of  the  men 
want  him  to  sit  on  their  laps.  Did  you  notice  at  the  Astor  re- 
ception how  Mr.  Houdon  of  England  hovered  around  him  just 
as  if  he  held  him  in  a  net?  Look  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Forrest 
gave  that  supper  on  his  benefit  night — how  he  flitted  around  the 
room  with  a  roguish  smile,  and  looked  from  those  eyes  that  fas- 
cinated the  men.  Do  you  remember  how  Mayor  Wood  insisted 
upon  the  Little  One  sitting  by  him  a  great  deal  of  the  time? 
(Rap.)  I  heard  afterward  that  Mr.  Wood  presented  him  with  a 
gold  watch  and  long  chain  to  go  around  his  neck.  \Ylio  was  that 
military  officer  who  paid  so  much  attention  to  him.  Jane  dear?" 
(Rap.)  1  told  her  I  thought  he  was  a  military  captain.  "Well. 
Tane  dear.  1  am  going  to  tell  you  something.  That  was  the  man 
who  sat  on  the  horse  that  I  saw  in  the  vision  a  little  while  ago. 
Mark  what  I  say.  that  vision  means  something  in  our  Little  Puss' 
life." 

The  next  time  that  I  saw  Puss  was  in  Boston.  He  was 
plaving  "Aladdin,  or  the  Wonderful  Scamp."  ( )ne  afternoon  the 
Sewall  family  gave  an  afternoon  coffee  in  honor  of  Mr.  Forrest, 
who  was  playing  at  the  Washington  Street  Theatre.  Little  Puss 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         385 

came  with  a  military  gentleman.  As  they  entered  the  parlor, 
Miss  Glover  grasped  my  arm  so  tight  that  it  hurt  me.  She  said 
in  my  ear,  "God,  Jane,  there's  the  man  I  saw  in  my  vision  with 
Little  Puss.  Who  can  he  be?"  I  said,  "When  his  name  was 
announced  it  sounded  like  Warren."  She  said,  "That  man  will 
play  a  part  in  Puss'  life.  Oh,  1  wish  our  Little  Puss  didn't  have 
those  eyes.  They  haunt  me  so,  Jane.  I  am  afraid  they  will 
bring  him  into  trouble." 

They  sang  a  duet  that  afternoon  and  oh,  how  their  voices 
sent  a  wave  of  music  through  the  room.  They  sang  the  duet 
from  Xorma,  and  as  the  Little  One  looked  up  at  the  tall  man 
and  told  him  of  her  love  and  the  ruin  that  he  had  wrought  upon 
her,  the  tall  man  looked  down,  drinking  every  word  and  gloat- 
ing over  the  ruin  he  had  made.  Miss  Glover  said.  "Jane,  I  must 
leave  the  room.  1  cannot  stand  it.  I,  too,  will  be  drawn  into 
that  man's  life.  God  help  me."  Afterward  she  became  a  mother 
of  twin  boys,  and  that  man  Warren  was  their  father. 

The  next  time  I  met  Little  Puss  I  was  playing  an  engage- 
ment at  Xiblo's  Garden,  Xew  York  City.  1  met  him  at  a  ban- 
quet given  at  the  Xew  York  Motel  where  he  and  Mr.  Warren 
were  boarding.  During  the  musical  programme  they  sang  the 
same  duet.  I  commenced  to  cry  when  I  thought  of  the  fate  of 
the  beautiful  Miss  Glover.  I  saw  that  that  man  Warren  fasci- 
nated women  and  they  fell  under  his  fascinating  spell.  1  saw 
his  love  was  great  for  Little  Puss.  Outside  of  that  he  was  a 
man  of  the  world,  to  which  many  a  woman  could  testify.  I  left 
the  banquet  room  and  went  to  the  parlor  of  the  hotel.  While 
sitting  there  trying  to  calm  my  feelings.  Edwin  Booth,  who  was 
playing  at  the  Winter  Garden,  entered  the  parlor  and  came  and 
sat  on  a  chair  alongside  of  me.  Me  said.  "Thev  hold  a  grand 
banquet  bore  tonight.  The  dining  hall  looks  daxxling  with  the 
bcautv  of  the  ladies  and  the  manlv  forms  of  the  gentlemen.  1 
notice,  .Miss  Davenport,  that  you  left  the  banquet  hall  alter  that 
gentleman  and  his  boy  sang  that  duet  from  Xorma."  1  said. 
"Mr.  Booth.  I  was  tired  and  thought  1  would  come  here  for  a 
little  while  and  rest."  Just  then  two  beautiful  voung  ladies  en- 
tered the  parlor.  One  said  to  the  other.  "Isn't  he  charming?" 
the  other  one  said.  "Who  do  vou  mean:"  The  first  speaker  said, 
"\\hv.  Mr.  Warren,  of  course."  I  groaned  inwardlv  and  said 


386        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

to  myself,  "Another  victim."  I  will  not  give  the  young  lady's 
name.  Afterward  she  became  a  mother  and  he  was  the  father 
of  the  child.  Six  months  after  the  child  was  born  she  com- 
menced taking  dramatic  lessons  and  prepared  for  the  stage.  Two 
years  afterward  she  became  a  member  of  my  company. 

After  those  young  ladies  had  retired  from  the  parlor — or  I 
should  say  withdrawn  from  the  parlor — President  Buchanan  en- 
tered, holding  Little  Puss  by  the  hand,  who  was  full  of  glee. 
Mr.  Booth  arose,  introduced  me  to  the  President.  During  our 
conversation  and  after  all  were  seated  Mr.  Booth  said,  "Come, 
Puss,  sit  on  my  knee  and  tell  us  what  you  have  been  doing  of 
late."  Oh/'  he  said,  "the  last  thing  that  I  did  was  to  sit  on  the 
General's  knee  and  make  love  to  him.  You  know  he's  such  a 
little  bit  of  a  baby  and  I  have  to  tell  him  pretty  things  to  keep 
him  in  good  humor."  We  laughed  at  that.  That  banquet  was 
given  in  honor  of  General  Winfield  Scott.  At  that  banquet  I 
first  saw  the  man  that  I  married,  but  I  was  not  introduced  to 
him  then. 

Mr.  Buchanan  said  to  me,  "Miss  Davenport,  there  are  go- 
ing to  be  a  number  of  friends  who  will  meet  two  weeks  from 
the  coming  Friday  at  the  \Yhite  House  in  Washington.  Will 
you  do  me  the  honor  to  be  present  on  that  occasion  as  one  of 
the  honored  guests?"  Before  I  had  a  chance  to  answer  him, 
Little  Puss  said,  "Of  course  she  will,  and  I'm  going  to  pick  her 
out  a  good  looking  fellow,  too."  I  laughed  and  said,  "I  hope 
that  will  suffice  for  an  answer."  The  President  said,  "Most 
assuredly  it  will,  and  I  will  look  for  you  (rap)  on  that  occasion." 
\Ve  laughed  and  said,  "Little  Puss  will  grow  up  to  be  a  match- 
maker yet."  I  attended  the  reception  and  Little  Puss  introduced 
me  to  the  gentleman  who  became  my  husband.  So  you  see,  he 
became  a  matchmaker,  after  all.  We  will  continue  at  another 
time. 

Saturday,  December  12,  1903. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  Why  I  call  you  brother, 
I  have  made  the  discovery  that  you  and  my  husband  were  broth- 
ers, and  that  you  are  fully  substantiated  in  all  the  honor  im- 
aginable. With  pride  and  glory  you  can  wear  the  same  em- 
blem :  that  condition  brings  me  in  close  sisterhood  to  you  and 
all  that  belongs  to  your  order. 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS 

Xow,  I  am  not  going  to  ask  your  pardon  this  morning  or 
consent  to  continue  my  communication.  I  am  going  to  thank 
you  in  a  kindly  manner  for  the  patience  you  have  had  with  the 
feeble  attempt  (rap)  that  I  have  had  in  producing"  this  simple 
and  plain  communication.  The  gracious  manner  in  which  you 
have  treated  me  requires  many  thanks  from  me,  especially  since 
I  had  a  strong  desire  to  add  my  mite  to  your  publication.  I  was 
informed  by  Mr.  Warren  that  the  spirits  were  giving  the  Life 
of  Little  Puss  through  his  own  organism  and  mediumship. 

After  making  the  discovery  of  what  was  taking  place  in 
your  home — Searchlight  Bower — it  was  my  desire  to  make  you 
a  visit  (rap).  I  brought  my  will  power  to  bear  and  entered  your 
home  unannounced.  I  have  been  coming  and  entering  your 
home  for  over  three  months,  finally  I  was  permitted  and  forth- 
with I  introduced  myself  to  your  friendship.  I  understood  this 
philosophy  for  over  forty  years  before  I  left  my  physical  body. 

It  was  through  the  mediumship  of  Little  Justin  that  I  be- 
came a  believer  and  discovered  it  was  a  solid  fact  that  spirits 
could  return  and  communicate  with  the  loved  ones.  There  was 
no  blotting  it  out :  the  flag  of  progress  and  spirit  development 
was  to  float  for  all  time.  I  know,  friend  and  brother,  there  are 
many  fraudulent  individuals  posing  as  mediums  for  the  spirit 
world.  It  is  through  these  frauds  that  you  can  make  the  dis- 
covery of  the  genuine  material  when  you  meet  it.  During  my 
earth  life  in  my  physical  body  I  met  many  frauds  and  the  glo- 
rious part  of  it  was,  through  those  frauds  I  understood  where 
to  draw  the  line  between  the  genuine  and  the  imitation.  I  wit- 
nessed wonderful  manifestations  through  the  mediumship  of 
Nettie  Maynard  and  I).  D.  Home,  Slade.  Foster  and  Mrs.  Paul 
of  Philadelphia. 

In  spiritualism,  mv  friend,  you  will  alwavs  find  the  genuine 
and  the  counterfeit.  If  you  keep  a  sane  mind  and  a  level  brain 
you  can  detect  the  fraud  every  time.  I  saw  genuine  materiali- 
zation through  the  mediumship  of  an  old  ladv  while  in  companv 
with  Fmma  ITardinge  Written,  (rap).  Doctor  Coonley.  Doctor 
Xewton.  (rap),  and  Mrs.  Floyd  Garrison.  It  was  on  a  Sundav 
afternoon  and  there  was  quite  a  bright  light  in  the  room.  It 
was  the  most  wonderful  expression  and  phase  of  spirit  power 
that  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing.  The  lady  said  it 


388        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

did  not  come  to  her  until  she  was  fifty-three  years  of  age.  She 
was  just  getting  over  a  severe  attack  of  the  typhoid  fever,  when 
the  spirits  would  materialize  to  her  (rap)  at  twilight.  The  first 
that  came  was  her  husband,  with  their  two  children ;  after  that 
other  spirits  came.  A  spirit  came  that  claimed  to  be  Thomas 
Paine.  We  held  a  pleasant  and  intellectual  conversation  with 
him.  While  we  were  conversing  he  said,  "There  is  a  little  me- 
dium playing  here  at  your  theatre  in  Washington.  Some  day 
I  will  control  his  organ  of  speech  and  address  a  public  audience 
through  his  mediumship."  Whether  that  came  to  pass  or  not, 
I  do  not  know. 

(The  addresses  above  spoken  of  were  delivered  in  1883  in 
Kansas  City,  Mo.  I  was  present  and  heard  the  series  of  lec- 
tures.— E.  W.  Hulburd.) 

The  next  time  I  met  Little  Puss  was  when  he  was  dancing 
in  the  opera  of  the  "Magic  Flute"  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in 
Xew  York  City.  Some  friends,  my  husband  and  myself,  occu- 
pied a  box.  The  next  day  I  wrote  him  a  note,  asking  him  as  a 
favor  to  call  at  our  rooms  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  and  bring 
any  friends  that  he  felt  would  be  pleased  to  spend  a  social  after- 
noon. He  answered  my  note  and  sent  it  by  the  bearer — that  is, 
he  had  some  one  write  it,  for  I  knew  he  could  not  do  so.  He  said 
he  would  call  with  some  friends  on  the  following  Sunda\  after- 
noon. He  came,  accompanied  by  James  G.  Blaine.  who  was  a 
particular  friend  of  my  husband's  a  Mr.  Lorillard,  who  claimed 
to  be  a  tobacco  manufacturer,  and  Mr.  Warren.  We  had  a  very 
pleasant  afternoon  and  the  conversation  became  quite  animated 
and  full  of  fun  ;  so  much  so  that  I  laughed  so  loud  I  had  to  beg 
the  gentlemens'  pardon  for  being  so  rude.  1  expected  a  lady 
guest,  but  she  failed  to  come. 

While  we  were  enjoying  ourselves  and  laughing  a  great 
deal  a  sudden  jar  or  knock  came  upon  the  wall.  Then  we  be- 
came quite  sober  and  the  laughter  moderated  for  awhile.  Little 
Puss  commenced  to  look  quite  serious,  arose  from  his  seat, 
walked  over  to  Mr.  Rlaine,  ran  his  fingers  through  his  hair,  say- 
ing, "Jimmie,  my  boy,  there  is  going  to  come  a  great  disap- 
pointment to  you  in  life :  it  will  make  yon  feel  so  bad  that  it 
will  prey  upon  your  mind ;  you  will  be  robbed  of  that  which 
you  are  fully  entitled  to.  but  Jimmie,  there  will  be  a  cause  for 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         389 

it  all.  (Rap.)  Remember,  now,  what  I  have  said."  He  walked 
back  and  took  his  seat.  While  he  was  sitting  at  the  end  of  the 
sofa  he  made  a  peculiar  face.  Mr.  Blaine  said,  "That  looks  like 
the  face  of  my  grandfather."  Puss'  face  looked  so  strange  that 
I  could  not  remain  quiet,  and  laughed  right  out. 

After  that  I  rang  the  bell  and  ordered  tea  to  be  brought  to 
our  sitting  room.  While  sitting  and  sipping  our  tea  the  bell 
boy  knocked  at  the  door  and  handed  in  an  envelope  to  my  hus- 
band, which  contained  tickets  given  me  to  attend  a  concert  to 
be  given  at  the  "Academy  of  Music."  After  we  had  talked  a 
little  while  Matilda  Herron  called,  and  while  there  in  conversa- 
tion said,  "Mrs.  Landers,  I  have  three  tickets  given  to  me  to 
attend  a  concert  to  be  given  at  the  'Academy  of  Music'  this 
evening.  I  laughed  and  said,  "Dear  Matilda,  we  have  just  re- 
ceived tickets  for  the  same  :  possibly  some  of  these  gentlemen 
will  accept  your  offer  with  gracious  condesencion  on  their  part." 
Matilda  laughed ;  at  the  same  time  placing  the  tickets  on  the 
centre  of  the  table  she  said,  "Gentlemen,  you  can  all  go.  I  do 
not  require  a  ticket,  neither  does  Puss.  I  think  our  faces  are 
good  enough  for  admittance  to  the  concert."  Then  it  was  de- 
cided we  should  all  go. 

About  an  hour  before  the  time  to  go  to  the  Academy  Puss 
said,  "Papa,  we  can't  go:  we  must  go  to  Philadelphia  tonight." 
I  said.  "Why  must  you  go  tonight.  Puss?"  He  said,  "I  can't 
tell,  but  the  voice  said  we  must  go." 

They  took  the  late  train  for  Philadelphia,  arrived  at  their 
home  about  half  past  two  in  the  morning.  When  they  stepped 
out  of  the  carriage  and  were  walking  toward  the  entrance  of  the 
home.  Puss  said,  "See,  Papa,  one  half  of  the  door  is  partly  open." 
Then  Mr.  Warren  thought  there  must  be  something  wrong,  that 
part  of  the  door  should  be  open  at  that  time  of  the  night.  He 
blew  a  whistle  that  he  carried.  After  awhile  two  policemen 
came.  Before  the  first  policeman  got  there  a  man  came  rush- 
ing out  of  the  house  and  tried  to  push  Mr.  Warren  one  side. 
Mr.  Warren  was  too  quick  for  him,  struck  him  a  blow  in  the 
face  which  knocked  him  senseless  and  he  fell  in  the  doorway. 
After  both  policemen  arrived  they  dragged  the  man  into  the 
hall,  placed  the  handcuffs  on  him.  locked  and  bolted  the  door 
on  the  inside,  took  the  kev  out  of  the  lock.  Little  Puss  sat  there 


390        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and   watched   him   in  case   he  returned  to  consciousness   while 
they  searched  the  house  for  other  burglars. 

They  lit  the  gas  in  the  hall  and  in  the  parlor,  to  their  great 
amazement  and  I  should  say  to  their  wonderful  astonishment, 
there  lay  the  piano  cover  filled  with  silverware  on  the  parlor 
floor,  tied  up  and  ready  to  carry  out.  On  the  sofa  was  a  sheet 
filled  with  Puss'  dresses  and  other  valuables  taken  from  their 
rooms,  which  made  a  large  bundle,  ready  to  carry  out.  Mr. 
Warren  woke  up  some  of  the  inmates  of  the  house.  They  and 
the  policemen,  with  Mr.  Warren,  made  a  thorough  search  of 
the  house.  They  lit  the  gas  all  through.  When  they  had  reached 
the  top  floor  (rap)  some  shooting  commenced.  The  policemen 
and  Prof.  Cox,  a  Mr.  Maple  and  Mr.  Warren  returned  the  fire. 
They  wounded  three  men,  who  went  back  into  a  room.  While 
they  were  trying  to  barricade  the  door  the  policemen  broke  it 
in.  knocked  the  men  down  and  they  were  held  there  while  their 
feet  were  tied  together  with  a  rope,  produced  by  one  of  the 
servant  maids.  They  were  a  class  of  old  burglars.  One  of  them 
was  an  escaped  convict  from  the  State's  Prison.  There  was  a 
description  of  it  in  the  newspapers  at  the  time.  Mr.  Warren 
wrote  a  letter  to  my  husband,  giving  a  more  thorough  descrip- 
tion of  the  affair  as  it  happened. 

I  did  not  meet  Little  Puss  again  for  some  years.  The  next 
time  was  at  my  home  in  Washington.  I  gave  a  reception  in 
which  my  friends  participated.  Little  Puss  was  one  of  the 
guests  present.  I  did  not  recognize  him.  He  came  with  Gen- 
eral Garfield.  who  happened  to  be  in  Washington  at  the  time. 
\Yhen  their  names  were  announced  they  were  given  as  General 
Garfield  and  lady.  I  wondered  who  the  lady  could  be.  as  I  did 
not  recognize  her.  1  thought  perhaps  it  might  be  a  daughter 
or  a  niece.  About  one  o'clock  the  little  lady  came  toward  me. 
dressed  in  a  magnificent  gown,  white  moire  antique,  black  lace 
and  white  swan's  clown.  She  placed  her  hands  in  mine  and 
looked  uj)  into  my  face,  laughing,  saying,  "Oh  Jane,  don't  you 
know  me?"  Then  I  recognized  those  roguish  eyes.  I  said. 
"It's  i'uss."  I  hugged  and  kissed  her,  for  she  was  a  she  then. 
I  said.  "I'uss.  vour  disguise  was  so  perfect  1  never  would  have 
known  you  if  1  had  not  looked  into  those  eyes."  T  said,  "What 
a  beautiful  blonde  wig'  vou  have — it  looks  so  natural  no  one 


JANE  DAVENPORT  LANDERS         391 

could  tell  but  it  was  your  own  hair.  How  comes  it  that  you 
came  with  General  Garfield?"  Papa  is  down  at  Alexandria," 
she  said.  "General  Garfield  dined  at  our  hotel  today.  I  asked 
him  out  of  all  the  goodness  and  kindness  that  was  in  his  nature 
would  he  not  become  my  escort  to  your  reception.  He  laughed 
and  said,  'Yes,  if  you  will  wear  that  beautiful  blonde  wig  that 
you  wore  in  "Morning  Call."  I  consented  and  so  you  find  me 
here.  I  am  chaperoning  him  in  the  character  of  his  great  grand- 
mother, grandmother,  mother,  wife  and  daughter.  Don't  you 
think,  Jane,  I  have  a  big  job  on  my  hands?"  I  said,  "Puss, 
you're  a  daisy;  I  was  wondering  all  the  evening  why  you  did 
not  come.  Now  be  careful  that  you  do  not  permit  those  eyes 
of  yours  to  wander  around  the  room  too  much,  especially  where 
the  male  sex  are."  She  looked  up  into  my  face  with  those 
roguish  eyes,  at  the  same  time  laughing,  saying,  "Dear  Jane, 
I'm  on  my  good  behavior  tonight.  I  am  here  with  the  Rev.  Gar- 
field,  that  is  why  you  see  I  am  so  quiet  and  well  behaved,  just 
like  a  church  mouse.  Don't  you  think  he  is  a  rather  handsome 
looking  fellow?"  Just  then  a  Mr.  Xoble  came  up  to  say  some- 
thing to  me.  I  introduced  him  to  Puss  as  Miss  Dewdrop,  say- 
ing, "Miss  Dewdrop,  this  is  Mr.  Xoble,  a  particular  friend  of 
my  husband."  Then  those  eyes  commenced  and  for  the  next 
hour  he  had  no  eyes  for  anyone  but  her.  I  smiled  to  myself  and 
said.  "She'll  make  him  dance  around  like  a  performing  dog." 

In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  he  came  to  me  and  said,  "She's 
a  bewitching  little  creature,  and  yet  she's  so  quiet.  What  rela- 
tion is  she  to  General  Garfield?"  I  said.  "Xo  kin  whatever; 
only  a  lady  friend."  He  said,  "I  have  invited  her  next  Tuesday 
evening  to  go  and  see  the  'Dashing  Blanchard'  in  the  'Rival 
Lovers.'  I  have  received  her  consent.  Would  you  not  like  to 
accompany  us?  It  would  be  a  delight  to  me  to  have  you  do 
so  if  you  possibly  can."  I  told  him  I  could  not,  as  friends  were 
coming  here  on  that  evening.  "She's  rather  a  peculiar  young 
lady,"  he  said  to  me,  "and  does  not  approve  of  theatres.  She 
thinks  girls  on  the  stage  become  rather  bold  acting  so  much  be- 
fore the  public.  She  said  she  wouldn't  be  an  actress  for  the 
whole  world.  She  couldn't  get  up  courage  enough  to  speak 
before  the  public.  She  knew  she'd  make  a  failure  of  it."  It 
was  all  I  could  do  to  keep  from  laughing  in  his  face.  What 


THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

would  he  think  if  he  became  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  he 
was  talking  to  the  "Dashing  Blanchard"  then.  The  principal 
musician  said,  "Select  your  partners  for  a  waltz."  He  went  di- 
rect to  her  and  asked  her  to  do  him  the  honor  of  waltzing  with 
him.  Friend,  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  glow  that  was  on 
that  man's  face.  How  she  hung  on  his  arm  and  looked  up  at 
his  eyes.  I  said  to  my  husband,  "Puss  has  another  victim."  He 
said  to  me,  "Tell  her  after  the  waltz  is  over  I  wa,nt  her  to  be- 
come my  partner  in  the  Lancers."  She  promised  me  she  would 
do  so.  She  said,  "Dear  Jane,  how  can  I  ever  leave  this  dear  boy 
that  has  no  chaperone,  when  you  know  it's  my  duty  to  protect 
him  from  the  female  butterflies?"  I  laughed  and  said,  "Re- 
member I  have  your  promise  that  you  are  to  dance  with  my 
husband."  She  looked  up  \vith  those  roguish  eyes  and  said, 
"I  will  do  as  you  wish,  but  oh,  you're  so  cruel  to  a  poor  or- 
phan." She  danced  with  my  husband  and  after  the  dance  was 
over  she  and  General  Garfield  disappeared. 

I  heard  afterward  that  gentleman  told  my  husband  he  called 
at  the  number  she  had  given  him  to  take  her  to  the  theatre.  They 
told  him  at  the  residence  there  was  no  Miss  Dewdrop,  it  was  a 
private  home,  and  they  did  not  keep  boarders. 

The  next  time  I  met  Puss  was  in  Baltimore,  at  the  Barnum 
Hotel.  She  was  playing,  or  I  should  say  "he"  now.  for  he  was 
in  male  attire,  and  was  representing  a  scamp  by  the  name  of 
Aladdin,  who  had  a  wonderful  lamp.  While  stopping  there 
Puss,  a  Mrs.  Davis  and  myself  became  guests  at  a  dinner  given 
by  two  wealth v  old  bachelors,  who  gave  a  description,  and  in 
that  description  the}'  described  quite  accurately  •  some  of  the 
amusing  pranks  that  i'uss  used  to  carry  out.  Mrs.  Davis  laughed 
so  much  that  T  thought  she  would  go  into  hysterics.  She  was 
a  lady  from  Philadelphia  and  said  that  she  knew  Puss  to  do  a 
great  many  funny  things,  but  those  just  described  were  new  to 
her.  While  we  were  enjoying  the  twilight  some  friends  called 
to  sec  the  bachelors.  One  of  their  number  bore  the  name  of 
Horace  Girard.  During  the  conversation  he  said.  "Bye  the  bye. 
Flo."  to  one  of  the  old  bachelors,  "1  attended  the  theatre  last 
night  with  sister  Rachel  and  Mary.  The  'Dashing  Blanchard'  is 
playing  'Aladdin'  there.  Some  say  it  is  a  boy  and  some  say  it's 
a  mrl.  It  doesn't  make  anv  difference  what  it  is,  the  wav  in 


393 

which  he  wriggles  his  body  while  singing  and  dancing  is  some- 
thing funny  to  behold ;  and  how  he  can  kiss  those  pretty  chorus 
girls  is  something  wonderful  to  look  at.  I  know  there  were 
hundreds  of  young  fellows  in  the  theatre  who  envied  him  the 
part  he  was  playing.  I  know  I,  for  one,  did.  But  Flo,  would 
you  believe  it,  I  would  rather  kiss  Aladdin  than  any  of  the  cho- 
rus girls,  for  I  believe  it's  a  girl.  He  has  breasts  just  like  a  girl 
and  his  neck  is  perfect.  As  he  came  over  toward  our  box  sing- 
ing, 'Walking  on  a  Spar,  Smoking  a  Cigar,'  he  winked  at  me. 
(Rap.)  I  tell  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  is  no  boy,  but  a 
girl  (rap)  ;  those  were  a  girl's  eyes  that  winked  at  me  and  the 
voice  is  a  high  soprano  voice.  If  it  isn't  a  real  girl  it's  the  next 
door  to  it,  and  I'd  like  to  be  her  husband  just  the  same." 

That  was  the  cause  of  a  big  laugh.  Puss  looked  up  with 
one  of  his  quiet,  innocent  looks  and  said,  "Oh,  what  a  bold  per- 
son that  must  be  to  wink  at  the  people  from  the  stage.  That's 
beyond  all  decency.  I  don't  see  how  managers  can  engage  such 
brazen  people.  If  I  was  the  manager  of  a  theatre  I  wouldn't 
have  such  characters  on  my  stage."  The  young  man  said,  "He 
was  pretty  all  the  same,  and  I  believe  it's  a  girl.  There's  eight 
young  men  of  us  going  tomorrow  night  to  see  him  in  'Aladdin.' 
I  have  secured  the  same  box  that  T  sat  in  the  other  evening. 
It's  the  one  on  the  right  of  the  stage."  Puss  looked  up  with  a 
sad  face  and  a  melancholy  look  in  his  eyes,  saying.  "How  can 
young  men  go  to  ruin  that  way?" 

The  young  gentleman  said,  "I  am  willing  any  time  to  pay 
a  few  dollars  to  see  such  a  face  and  form  ;  by  the  way.  your  face 
has  a  little  resemblance  to  his."  Puss  said,  "May  God  forgive 
you  this  day:  to  think  you  would  say  (rap)  my  face  resembled 
his."  I  thought  the  old  bachelor  named  Flo  would  fall  off  the 
chair  from  laughing  so  much.  The  other  bachelor,  the  taller 
of  the  two.  kept  shaking  his  hand  at  the  Little  One  to  keep 
quiet,  but  I  saw  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  do  so.  The  tall 
one  said,  "Suppose  we  have  some  music  now,  friends." 

Mrs.  Davis  was  invited  to  go  to  the  piano.  She  did  so  and 
played  a  beautiful  selection  from  I'cethoven.  \\  bile  she  was 
playing  Puss  sat  there  with  such  a  sad  face  on,  looking  at  that 
young  man.  Tt  was  all  I  could  do  to  hold  in  from  screaming 
with  laughter.  After  she  had  finished  playing  she  said.  "Come 


394         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

here,  Puss,  and  let  us  sing  one  of  our  duets  for  the  friends." 
Puss  got  up  and  walked  toward  the  piano  like  he  had  spavined 
knees  and  dragged  one  of  his  feet  as  if  he  were  a  cripple.  I 
thought  that  the  old  bachelor  they  called  Flo  would  have  to 
lie  down  on  the  floor,  he  laughed  so  much. 

When  Puss  had  reached  the  piano  Mrs.  Davis  said,  "Let's 
sing  "The  Lilies  that  Float  Down  the  River."  Puss  leaned  so 
on  Mrs.  Davis'  shoulder  that  it  would  give  one  the  idea  that  he 
was  suffering  great  pain.  They  commenced  to  sing,  Mrs.  Davis 
with  her  rich  contralto  voice  and  Puss  with  his  high  soprano. 
Oh,  how  grand  it  was.  The  young  man  rose  immediately,  held 
on  to  the  back  of  his  chair,  looked  at  them  like  a  frightened 
deer;  when  they  had  finished  he  said,  "Good  God!  that's  the 
same  voice — that's  Aladdin's  voice."  He  took  quick  steps  tow- 
ard Puss,  caught  him  in  his  arms,  kissed  him,  saying,  "You  are 
Aladdin,  and  I  know  it."  I  wish  you  could  have  been  there, 
friend,  and  heard  the  applause  that  followed  the  laughter. 

The  Sunday  evening  following,  we  all  assembled  at  the 
same  house.  Nettie  Maynard  was  present  and  gave  one  of  her 
musical  seances.  After  the  seance  was  over  light  refreshments 
were  served.  All  went  home  feeling  happy  to  think  they  were 
present  on  that  occasion. 

The  last  time  I  saw  Puss  while  living  in  the  physical  body 
was  at  the  President's  mansion  in  Washington.  I  am  glad  to 
see  that  he  has  lived  to  see  his  seventy-fifth  birthday  and  hope 
he  will  live  longer  yet  as  a  servant  of  the  spirit  world.  Give 
him  my  love. 

I  thank  you  from  the  depths  of  my  soul  for  taking  down 
my  communication  and  hope  it  will  be  of  some  value  to  your 
book.  Good  day,  friend.  Many  thanks. 


Major  H.  J.  Gleason 

Chapter  XXXV 


Wednesday,  January   13,  1904. 

Good  morning,  friend  Hulburd.  I've  made  a  mistake  to 
commence  with,  I  should  have  said  Brother  Hulburd.  Now  let 
me  tell  you  why  I  am  here  this  morning.  Brother  Knowles  and 
Brother  Warren  and  many  others  tell  me  that  there  is  a  book 
about  to  be  published  called  the  "Life  of  Little  Justin  Hulburd." 
It  became  my  great  desire  to  have  something  to  say  in  that 
book,  and  I'm  going  to  say  it  in  my  own  way.  I  was  known  to 
you,  Mr.  Meyer  and  Justin,  as  Major  Gleason,  an  unfortunate 
being,  one  that  was  a  coward.  If  I  had  not  been  a  coward  and 
a  moral  wreck  I  would  not  have  committed  suicide. 

Your  spirit  friends  granted  me  the  wish  to  communicate 
with  you.  My  desire  had  been  so  great  it  just  seemed  as  if  I 
could  not  wait.  For  quite  awhile  they  told  me  I  must  be  pa- 
tient and  prepare  myself  for  the  condition,  that  is,  to  control 
Justin's  forces.  I  hope  that  he  told  you  I  showed  myself  to  him 
and  held  some  conversation  with  him.  I  was  so  anxious  to 
come  here  and,  when  I  made  the  discovery  that  I  could  show 
myself  to  him,  I  got  my  will  power  to  work  and  accomplished  it. 

Dear  brother,  I  hope  you  and  all  the  friends  will  forgive  me 
for  what  I  did.  I  became  the  slave  of  the  wine  and  whiskey 
bottle.  I  was  a  low  coward  to  desert  my  beautiful  wife  and 
children.  Oh  God.  brother,  if  you  only  knew  all — all  that  beau- 
tiful soul  had  to  contend  with.  She  had  the  patience  of  an 
angel :  she  was  an  angel  to  me.  She  loved  me  dearly  and  I  loved 
her,  when  whiskey  had  not  destroyed  my  mental  senses.  When 
a  man  or  woman  is  under  the  influence  of  that  cursed  drink  all 
their  intellectual  faculties  become  befogged.  I  would  do  any- 
thing for  my  wife  and  children  while  in  my  normal  condition. 
God  bless  her.  The  patience  she  had  with  me  was  wonderful. 


396        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Some  people  might  think  I  did  not  love  my  wife  and  children 
because  I  went  on  those  periodical  sprees.  When  I  was  a  sober 
man  I  loved  them  with  all  the  love  of  my  soul.  I  had  been 
flattered  and  feted  by  many  people  and  Major  Gleason  thought 
he  had  will  power  strong  enough  to  resist  the  temptation  of 
wine  and  women,  but  I  fell  a  victim  to  the  punch  bowl. 

When  my  loved  ones  come  over  to  this  side  of  life  I  will  do 
all  that  is  in  my  power  to  pay  the  debt  I  owe  them — that  is, 
the  debt  of  love  and  gratitude  I  owe  to  my  angel  wife. 

I  know,  brother,  it  was  a  cowardly  act  to  commit  suicide, 
but  that  hellish  demon  had  me  in  his  fangs  and  I  felt  I  was  a 
degraded  being  in  the  sight  of  my  family  and  other  human  be- 
ings. No  doubt  you  heard  to  what  a  low  condition  I  fell. 

At  one  time  here  in  San  Diego,  when  I  received  that  posi- 
tion in  the  railroad  office,  I  thought  I  was  once  more  a  man, 
and  for  a  time  I  was.  and  we  all  lived  so  happily,  but  Dudley 
Warner  and  his  party  came  to  San  Diego  and  brought  ruin  upon 
me  and  my  family  again.  While  I  was  showing  him  and  his 
party  around  he  tempted  me  to  partake  of  wine.  At  first  I  re- 
fused it,  then  he  said.  "Only  take  a  little  to  be  sociable.  I  have 
recommended  you  to  the  company  as  a  very  sociable  man,  and 
that  your  jokes  were  many." 

I  was  weak  to  flattery  like  rnany  other  human  beings  on 
this  planet.  I  partook  of  the  wine,  fell  a  victim  to  sociability 
and  that  curse  that  has  led  many  a  man  and  woman  to  become 
cowards  and  slaves  to  the  king  of  all  evil,  whose  name  is  whis- 
key. I  went  on  a  spree,  lost  my  position  in  the  railroad  and 
once  more  became  a  wreck,  of  which  I  need  not  tell  you,  as 
you  were  acquainted  with  the  facts. 

In  time  I  got  to  hate  myself  and  loathed  the  idea  that  I  had 
become  a  walking  nuisance.  Think  of  that  angel  wife  of  mine, 
how  she  bore  with  me  through  it  all.  and  cheered  me  on  to  better 
things.  If  I  had  only  had  the  strong  will  power  of  a  sensible 
man  with  her  love  I  could  have  become,  as  it  were,  a  new  be- 
ing. I  loved  flattery  and  adulation  which  was  my  ruin,  in  time, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  whiskey  bottle.  Oh,  that  fatal  curse 
that  is  held  inside  of  that  bottle.  As  long  as  the  nation  receives 
a  big  revenue  from  the  same  it  will  be  manufactured,  to  the  ruin 
of  millions  of  weak  minded  people. 


MAJOR  H.  J.  GLEASON  397 

I  wish  I  had  the  power  to  destroy  all  liquor  that  is  manu- 
factured. I  would  go  on  destroying"  it  as  quick  as  I  had  made 
the  discovery  that  it  was  in  course  of  preparation  to  be  launched 
out  into  the  world  for  sale.  Its  victims  become  the  degraded 
scum  of  society  and  also  create  through  their  seed  libertines, 
immoral  cowards,  thieves,  burglars  and  murderers,  filling  the 
prisons  and  lunatic  asylums.  Alas,  the  nation  receives  a  big 
revenue  and  the  human  race  must  fall  before  the  curse  of  whis- 
key. Intemperance  seems  to  flourish  everywhere  throughout 
the  land. 

I  want  to  thank  Mr.  Meyer,  yourself  and  Justin  for  the 
kindness  shown  to  my  family  and  myself  while  under  your 
hospitable  roof.  All  my  boys  loved  to  come  here.  My  daughter 
Rose  said  she  felt  at  home  as  soon  as  she  stepped  inside  of  your 
house.  She  said  she  loved  to  sing  up  here,  the  air  was  so  clear 
and  beautiful.  YVhen  she  inflated  her  lungs  with  the  air,  it 
gave  power  to  her  voice.  She  told  me  all  the  food  she  ate  up 
here  tasted  so  good  and  it  just  seemed  like  heaven  to  ramble 
under  your  great  live  oaks  here  in  your  mountain  dell.  As  you 
know,  she  had  a  sweet  voice  and  I  loved  to  hear  her  sing.  When 
everything  at  home  was  in  perfect  harmony  and  my  pet  Rose 
would  sing  for  us  it  was  heaven  on  earth  :  then  my  wife — God 
bless  her — and  I  were  happy  beings. 

The  first  time  that  I  accompanied  Mr.  Meyer  to  the  moun- 
tains, after  we  had  left  the  main  road  and  entered,  under  the 
great  live  oaks,  on  the  road  leading  to  your  home,  I  said  to  the 
Doctor,  "You  gentlemen  have  an  Eden  here." 

How  happy  it  made  my  boys  when  their  mother  gave  them 
permission  to  make  you  a  visit  in  your  mountain  dell,  for  which, 
once  more,  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  all  the  kindness  shown  to 
my  family.  \Yhen  my  wife  made  you  that  visit  last  summer,  I 
accompanied  her  as  a  spirit.  I  thank  Major  Hess  for  the  kind- 
ness shown  by  him  to  my  wife  and  the  other  lady.  It  was  gen- 
erous in  him.  a  stranger,  to  get  a  conveyance  and  bring  my  wife 
to  your  home  for  the  first  time.  It  was  her  great  desire  to  see 
the  place,  so  often  spoken  of  by  her  husband  and  children.  It 
is  one  of  the  bright  spots  in  her  memory  and  shall  always  re- 
main so.  until  she  comes  to  me  on  this  side  of  life.  Then  we 
will  both  visit  vour  home  together  and  look  at  the  surround- 


398 

ing  country,  which  is  so  beautiful  to  the  eye.  She  said  to  her- 
self, while  on  her  visit,  "Now  I  will  see  that  strange  little  crea- 
ture in  his  native  element,  in  his  own  home,"  meaning  Justin. 

My  great  desire  in  coming  here  is  to  give  you  an  explana- 
tion of  something  that  took  place  during  the  civil  war.  I  did 
not  understand  it  then,  but  I  do  now,  since  coming  here  to 
spirit  life.  While  down  in  the  field,  a  brother  officer  and  my- 
self visited  another  regiment ;  (rap)  while  nearing  the  location 
of  that  regiment  we  discovered  a  dashing  young  lady  mounted 
on  a  beautiful  horse  coming  toward  us,  a  Captain  Knowles 
walking  by  the  side  of  the  horse,  holding  a  conversation  with 
its  rider.  I  said  to  my  companion,  ""Will,  there  is  one  of  your 
southern  beauties.  I  presume  she  is  on  her  way  to  see  the  Gen- 
eral, to  get  him  to  grant  her  some  favor ;  perhaps  to  have  a 
guard  put  around  her  father's  house.'' 

When  the  horse  and  rider  came  up  to  where  we  stood  wye 
took  off  our  hats,  came  to  attention  and  bowed  politely ;  she 
reigned  in  her  horse,  saying,  when  she  had  brought  him  to  a 
stop,  "Good  morning,  gentlemen,  I  had  no  idea  there  were  so 
many  fine  looking  officers  in  the  northern  army.  You  must 
forgive  me,  gentlemen,  for  making  such  an  expression.  I  am 
a  young  southern  girl  with  very  little  mind  of  my  own,  as  you 
can  see.  Captain  Knowles  here,  another  one  of  your  dashing 
officers,  like  a  knight  of  old,  is  leading  me  to  headquarters." 
Then  she  laughed  a  musical  laugh,  showing  a  mouth  full  of 
beautiful  white  teeth.  She  gave  her  head  a  saucy  toss  and  said 
she  was  afraid  she'd  lose  her  heart  and  some  Yankee  officer 
would  have  the  keeping  of  it  yet.  "YYill  put  his  foot  on  to  my 
favorite  corn,  saying,  "Jesus,  ain't  Knowles  a  lucky  dog?"  He 
said  it  in  a  stage  whisper,  but  I  felt  like  knocking  him  down. 
That  corn  hint  me  for  a  week  afterward. 

The  next  time  I  saw  Captain  Knowles  I  asked  if  I  might, 
with  his  permission,  inquire  who  that  young  lady  was  on  the 
horse  that  he  was  escorting  to  headquarters?  He  said,  "Why, 
Major.  I  introduced  her  to  you  and  your  brother  officer,  as  Miss 
Cummings.  Her  name  is  Miss  Lucy  Cummings  and  she  has 
promised  to  marrv  me  and  make  me  happy  for  the  rest  of  my 
life."  I  said.  "Oh.  ho!  That's  the  way  the  wind  blows,  is  it?" 
He  said,  "That's  the  way  it  blows  at  the  present  time."  Two 


MAJOR  H.  J.  GLEASON  399 

weeks  afterward  1  met  Captain  Knowles  walking  with  a  boy 
who  had  a  pair  of  Xankeen  pants  on,  buttoned  on  to  a  waist, 
and  a  slouchy  looking  cap  on  his  head.  I  noticed  the  Captain 
kissed  the  boy  when  he  bid  him  good  bye.  I  said  to  the  Cap- 
tain, "Who  is  that  queer  looking  kid  that  you  were  bidding 
good  bye  as  I  came  up?  What's  he  doing  here  among  the 
boys?" 

He  said,  "Major,  he  brings  me  news  from  my  sweetheart. 
That  is  my  sweetheart's  brother."  I  said,  "Great  suffering 
Moses,  he  will  never  be  killed  for  his  beauty.  He's  got  freckles 
enough  on  his  face  and  hands  to  be  on  exhibition  in  a  side  show. 
You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  that  freckle  faced  kid  is  a  brother  of 
that  beautiful  Miss  Cummings  with  the  long  blonde  hair  hang- 
ing down  her  back.  If  I  was  her  I'd  want  to  disown  such  a 
looking  brother  as  that.  He  put  me  in  mind  of  a  toad,  Cap- 
tain." The  Captain  laughed  and  said,  ''Major,  the  sister  is 
sweet,  so  I  don't  mind  what  the  brother  looks  like."  I  said, 
"She's  a  daisy,  Captain." 

In  about  a  month  afterward,  as  two  others  and  myself  were 
walking  over  a  piece  of  rising  ground,  we  discovered  a  horse 
with  a  little  woman  on  its  back  coming  toward  our  lines  as  if 
the  wind  carried  the  horse  and  rider.  At  the  same  time  in  the 
distance  we  saw  two  men  on  horses  riding  after  her  and  shoot- 
ing— it  seemed  to  us — as  quick  as  they  could  empty  their  pis- 
tols. When  the  horse  and  its  rider  came  to  where  we  were 
standing,  we  made  the  discovery  it  was  a  little  old  woman  who 
was  sitting  on  the  horse.  We  said,  "Good  woman,  what  is  the 
matter?  Why  are  those  men  pursuing  you  and  shooting  at 
you?"  She  spoke  with  a  strong  southern  dialect  and  said,  "Them 
ere  fellers  want  to  kiss  me  and  I  wouldn't  have  it."  We  all 
burst  out  laughing  to  think  that  men  would  want  to'  kiss  such 
an  old  looking  hag  like  that.  She  had  an  old  clay  pipe  in  her 
mouth  and  some  of  her  teeth  were  as  black  as  charcoal  and  the 
way  she  laughed  and  grinned  at  us  was  a  caution.  She  said, 
"All  you'uns  is  pretty  fair  looking  chaps,  but  T  must  be  goin' 
on."  \\  e  asked  her  where  she  was  bound  for.  She  said.  "Eout 
yonder  a  little  ways."  We  watched  her  and  made  the  discovery 
she  entered  a  Colonel's  tent. 

Xow,   brother   Hulburd,   since    I    have   come   TO   spirit    life    1 


-JOO        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

have  made  a  discovery  and  will  give  you  the  explanation.  Those 
three  different  persons,  as  I  thought,  were  one  and  the  same 
individual,  and  that  individual  was  this  Little  Justin  whom  I 
now  control.  Also  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  seventeen 
different  male  spirits,  whom,  w'hile  living  in  their  physical  bod- 
ies, she  had  promised  to  marry  and  make  happy. 

While  sojourning  here  in  spirit  life  I  have  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  an  old  Chicago  friend;  a  Mr.  Gallup,  who  tells 
me  his  wife  is  related  to  you  and  Justin  ;  her  maiden  name  was 
Hulburd.  I  have  also  met  Richard  Hooley,  of  Hooley's  Theatre 
in  Chicago.  He  says  at  one  time  Little  Justin  was  under  his 
management  for  over  twelve  years.  I  have  also  met  a  Mr.  Lat- 
shaw  who  says  he  was  well  acquainted  with  Fred  Meyer  and 
Justin  while  living  in  Chicago  as  they,  at  one  time,  were  mem- 
bers of  his  household.  I  have  met  Joseph  \\  ilson,  a  druggist, 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  Justin ;  a  Mrs.  Xorthcote  and 
many  others.  It  would  take  up  too  much  space  to  mention  their 
names,  and  my  time  is  up.  I  leave  my  love  to  you  all  and  to 
the  friends  who  would  like  to  hear  from  me.  Put  me  down  as 
Major  Gleason.  the  weak  fool.  Good  day. 


October   16,   1889. 

The  immolation  of  my  poor  bruised  heart 
Doth  pierce  my  soul  like  an  arrow  dart ; 
Because  I  have  waited  and  watched  so  long 
And   sung  to   my  heart's   content  immolation's  song. 
You  see  I  have  sacrificed  every  pleasure  on  earth 
To  give  vent  to  his  passion  in  an  idiot's  birth. 
Oh,  when  shall  my  body  be  laid  to  rest 
And  my  spirit  have  fled  to  the  land  of  the  blest? 
Ah,  there  comes  another  cry  of  shame 
\\hy  did  I  let  it  pass  my  lips  the  same? 
Because  upon  my  soul  he  thrusts  so  bane 
The  thought  of  bringing  another  idiot  to  the  world  again. 
Is  there  no  help  for  my  poor  aching  heart? 
If  none,  drag  me  under  the  wheels  of  a  cart 
That  my  poor  body  may  be  lacerated  and  torn  apart, 


MAJOR  H.  J.  GLEASON  401 

Then  perhaps  it  will  still  my  aching  heart. 

I  have  nothing  left  God  only  knows 

But  my  poor  idiot  and  old  clothes. 

Everything  for  whiskey  and  tobacco  have   been  sold 

And  me  and  the  little  idiot  can  go  out  in  the  cold. 

Where  are  the  just  laws  of  this  Christian  land 

When  I  have  his  abuse  and  licentious  thoughts  to  stand? 

And  now,  O  God,  open  a  way  lor  me  on  any  hand 

Or  I  must  burst  the  strings  of  this  life  band. 

Let  the  living  thoughts  of  my  heart 

Through  some  fount  of  love  play  a  part 

For  I  am  so  weary  and  quickly  tire. 

All  is  gone,  not  even  a  spark  of  fire. 

My  poor  brain  seems  to  whirl  and  reel, 

Those  drunken   fumes  and  cries  1   feel. 

Oh  let  me  break  this  band  of  vice, 

It  is  only  prostitution  in  a  married  life. 

Thou  good  angels  give  me  a  spark  of  hope 

That  my  soul  for  once  in  Heaven  may  float. 

To  see  if  there   is  another  woman  there   like  me 

That  has  suffered  so  long.     Please  let  me  see, 

For  I  must  from  this  drunken  licentious  brute  be  free. 

Oh,  thou  good  angels  please  do  for  me, 

\Vhereby  in  immolation  I  have  stood   it  so  long 

To  leave  this  brothel  house,  serpent.  J   do  not  it  wrong. 

If  there  is  one  divine  spark  of  love, 

Woman,  shall  I  find  it  in  our  home  above 

Or  shall  I  live  to  see  it  here 

Down  in  the  depths  of  this  earth  sphere? 

When   I  see  a  woman's  smiling  face 

I  think  she  must  have  a  husband  that  knows  God's  grace. 

Where  is  all  my  culture  and  learning  gone 

To  be  submissive  and  grace  a  drunkard's  home. 

For  all,  all  is  lost  and  I  am  left  alone. 

Even  my  poor  idiot  to  another  land  lias  gone. 

I   closed  his  eyes  in  shame  and  disgrace, 

Xow  God  help  me  to  flee  this  place 

(  )r   I    will   become  raving  mad. 

In  that  condition  then  I   will  be  happv  and  glad. 


402        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

When  I  am  a  woman,  a  maniac  mad. 

Then  all  the  tongues  of  the  world  at  me  can  wag. 

But  oh  God,  save  me,  save  me,  I  am  but  a  human  rag, 

Then  he  no  longer  through  this  world  of  crime,  me  can  drag, 

But  in  that  world  of  perpetual  bliss 

I  can  again  and  again  my  idiot  kiss, 

For  he  will  be  sane  like  other  children  there, 

Then  I  wull  thank  God  I  have  left  this  world  of  care. 


Charles  R.  Thorne,  Jr. 

Chapter    XXXVI 


February  23,  1904. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  I  once  more  enter  your 
home  without  knocking  or  asking  permission.  I  understand 
thoroughly  that  your  doors  are  always  kept  open  to  all  who 
wish  to  enter. 

It  pleases  me  to  greet  you  on  such  a  beautiful  morning. 
This  would  compare  with  a  June  morning  in  the  eastern  states. 
You  have  a  glorious  climate  here  for  those  who  live  in  the 
physical  body.  Oh,  how  I  could  impress  thousands  to  come  to 
your  beautiful  state,  but  they  will  come  in  time,  you  can 
rely  on  that.  In  fifty  years  from  now  the  population  of  Cali- 
fornia will  be  a  large  one.  I  always  loved  the  state ;  in  it  I 
could  see  a  great  future  brought  to  bear  by  the  people  of  the 
east ;  it  is  only  in  its  childhood  yet.  \Yait  until  it  grows  to 
full  manhood  and  then  see  the  results  that  it  will  bring  forth. 

Xow  I  will  give  you  a  little  description  of  my  life  when 
living  in  a  physical  body.  I  was  a  man  without  any  religion 
whatever.  I  neither  believed  in  a  God  or  a  devil,  a  future  state 
was  all  chance  work  to  me.  When  anyone  would  speak  to  me 
of  immortality  I  thought  they  were  theorizing  with  a  visionary 
condition,  that  had  lain  in  their  mind  dormant  for  awhile  and 
had  just  woke  up,  throwing  a  glamour  over  the  natural  senses. 
I  used  to  smile,  inwardly,  when  any  one  spoke  to  me  of  their 
religious  ideas.  T  had  no  desire  to  insult  them,  but  often  felt 
like  it.  I  was  a  man  who  did  not  hold  woman's  virtue  at  a  high 
estimation.  I  had  a  strong  animal  nature  and  felt,  while  living 
in  a  physical  body,  that  women  were  onlv  made  for  me  to  ad- 
mire. As  I  did  not  believe  in  any  hereafter.  I  always  selected 
the  pretty  ones  to  amuse  me.  I  loved  my  profession — the  stage 
— and,  as  an  actor.  I  was  the  admiration  of  the  female  sex. 


404        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Nature  had  given  me  a  fine,  manly  form  to  look  upon  but 
she  did  not  give  me  those  fine,  beautiful  qualities  that  consti- 
tute a  virtuous,  moral  nature.  I  know,  during  my  professional 
career,  that  many  of  the  men  on  the  stage  envied  my  manly 
form.  I  was,  what  you  call  vulgarly,  a  masher.  I  was  both 
conceited  and  egotistical  and  reveled  in  the  idea  that  I  was  the 
beau  ideal  of  women,  poor  vain  man  that  I  was;  (rap)  I  make 
you  this  confession  to  show  you,  and  the  readers  at  large,  that 
I  did  not  understand  that  I  was  only  a  poor  weak  vessel  pre- 
paring for  a  new  birth.  In  some  grooves  of  nature  I  was  gen- 
erous, while  in  others  I  was  selfish  to  the  extreme ;  I  only 
thought  of  Charles  Thorne.  Jr.;  all  else,  I  thought,  must 
dance  to  my  fiddling.  I  admired  life  and  wished  to  make  the 
most  of  it  in  my  way  of  living.  Vain  fool  that  I  was.  I  loved 
to  look  upon  the  beauty  of  the  female  sex  and  have  them  lavish 
upon  me  their  smiles.  Then  I  was  living  in  a  garden  of  roses 
(two  raps)  fed  by  the  nutrition  of  man's  vanity  and  woman's 
weak  nature.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  I  attended  a  ball, 
given  at  the  Academy  of  Music  on  East  14th  street.  \Yhile  I 
was  admiring  the  beautiful  women  and  the  toilettes  they  wore, 
on  that  occasion,  I  noticed  a  little  girl  with  beautiful  flaxen 
hair  dancing  with  a  military  officer.  I  said  to  myself,  "I  must 
become  acquainted  with  her  if  such  a  thing  can  be  possible." 
It  came  around  at  last.  I  saw  her  speaking  to  Mr.  Palmer,  the 
theatrical  manager.  I  passed  by  where  they  were  standing. 
Mr.  Palmer  called  me  to  him  saying.  "Mr.  Thorne.  allow  me  to 
introduce  vou  to  my  little  friend.  Mademoiselle  Leotine.  The 
little  individual  with  the  flaxen  hair  bowed,  with  great  profusion, 
as  she  accepted  the  introduction.  She  spoke  with  a  French  ac- 
cent. I  asked  her  if  she  would  permit  me  to  have  the  honor 
of  waltzing  with  her.  She  did  so  and  we  entered  the  mazy 
dance.  T  commenced  to  make  love  to  her  while  we  were  danc- 
ing and  she  would  look  at  me  with  those  large  dark  blue  eyes 
full  of  fire.  I  said  to  myself.  "God,  what  a  beautiful  creature 
this  is.  Thorne,  you  must  win  her  for  your  own  if  it  costs  a 
whole  year's  salary."  After  the  music  had  finished.  I  led  her 
toward  a  box  in  which  sat  Kate  Xewton  and  some  other  pro- 
fessional friends.  \Ye  took  seats  at  the  back  part  of  the  box 
and  I  became  her  slave  for  awhile.  I  should  judge  it  must  have 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  405 

been  half  an  hour,  when  she  arose  and  said,  "I  must  go  now, 
my  husband  will  be  looking  for  me."  I  said,  "Are  you  mar- 
ried?" She  said,  "Yes,  my  husband  is  a  military  gentleman." 
She  spoke  the  last  sentence  in  good  English.  I  looked  at  her 
in  amazement  and  said,  "Then  you  are  not  French?"  She  said, 
"Xo,  but  Scotch."  I  said,  "Then  who  are  you,  that  you  can 
speak  with  such  a  French  accent?"  She  laughed  and  said, 
"Charlie  Thorne,  do  you  not  know  me?  I  am  Little  Puss  who 
sat  on  your  lap  many  a  time  and  played  with  your  mustache 
when  you  were  so  proud  of  it."  I  seized  her  hand  and  said, 
"Oh  Puss,  Puss,  what  will  you  be  next?"  She  said,  "Xot  one 
of  your  victims,  anyhow."  She  said,  "Charlie  Thorne,  do  you 
not  think  there  will  come  a  punishment  for  the  life  you  are 
leading?  There  is  a  penalty  for  that  which  is  wrong.  You  made 
a  mistake  this  time,  in  the  discovery  that  1  am  too  old  a  chicken 
to  become  one  of  your  victims.  It  would  take  more  than  a 
year's  salary  to  make  me  the  victim  that  you  had  in  your  mind." 

Then  I  thought  Kate  Xewton  and  the  friends  would  have 
a  fit  from  laughing  at  my  expense.  I  ground  my  teeth  and  said 
to  myself,  "Damn  you.  anyhow.  I  will  get  even  with  you." 

I  followed  her  as  she  went  to  the  box  door.  She  threw  out 
her  foot  behind,  gave  me  a  kick  which  made  me  cry  out  with 
the  pain  and  hurt  me  for  two  weeks  afterward.  She  opened  the 
door  and  disappeared  in  the  crowd. 

1  went  back  and  sat  down  on  the  chair,  for  my  leg  pained 
me.  Kate  Xewton  said,  "That  Little  Puss  is  a  strange  crea- 
ture. She  has  the  greatest  conception  of  character  of  any  per- 
son I  ever  knew.  With  that  flaxen  hair  and  her  French  accent 
I  never  could  have  told  who  it  was."  "If  I  didn't  know  her,  my 
leg  did.  She  gave  me  such  a  vicious  kick.  That  military  man 
she  calls  her  husband  must  have  been  the  one  I  saw  her  dancing 
with."  Kate  Xewton  said,  "Charles,  how  did  you  make  her  ac- 
quaintance?" "I  saw  her  speaking  to  Mr.  Palmer:  he  called 
me  over  and  introduced  me  to  her.  I'll  get  even  with  him  yet." 
Kate  laughed  and  said,  "Charles,  once  in  awhile  I  judge  you 
meet  your  match,  don't  you?"  I  said.  "I>v  God.  I  did  tonight; 
to  think  of  it,  Kate,  the  little  creature  that  1  used  to  dance  up 
and  down  on  my  knee,  a  few  years  ago.  should  fool  me  so  to- 
night; bv  Cod.  I  will  follow  her  and  kiss  her  if  I'm  arrested  for 


406        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

it.  I  have  a  right  to  a  kiss,  for  old  acquaintance  sake.  She  used 
to  kiss  me  often  enough  then,  when  she  lived  in  boys'  clothes. 
I  suppose  \vomens'  clothes  tonight  makes  her  a  little  prudish." 
I  went  and  mingled  with  the  crowd,  limping  somewhat,  when  I 
met  Mr.  Holmes.  While  I  was  talking  to  him  up  came  a  smart, 
trim-looking  little  boy  with  red  curly  hair :  he  said  to  Mr. 
Holmes,  "Is  your  name  Mr.  Thorne,  sir?''  Mr.  Holmes  said, 
"No  sir.  Did  you  want  to  see  me,  boy?''  He  said,  "I  want  to 
find  Mr.  Charles  Thorne,  the  man  that  acts  on  the  stage  and 
rants  so  he  frightens  the  women.  I  have  a  note  for  him." 
Holmes  was  laughing  so  that  he  held  the  front  of  his  coat  to- 
gether. He  said,  "Boy,  you  have  struck  the  man."  He  handed 
me  the  perfumed  note  and  as  I  was  about  to  read  it,  he  said, 
"Mister,  don't  you  think  you  ought  to  pay  me  something  for 
bringing  that  note?"  I  put  my  hand  in  my  pocket  and  gave  the 
boy  a  piece  of  money.  After  I  had  done  so  he  looked  up  at  me 
and  smiled,  saying,  "Mister,  you're  pretty  good  looking:  I  don't 
see  why  the  women  should  be  afraid  of  you."  I  said.  "Go  on." 
Holmes  was  laughing  and  said,  "Charles,  do  you  know  that  you 
gave  that  boy  a  five  dollar  gold  piece?"  I  said,  'Hell,  no;  did 
I?  Well,  Holmes,  I'm  all  upset  tonight." 

I  read  my  note ;  it  was  addressed  to  me  in  beautiful  lan- 
guage, asking  me  to  please  call  at  the  first  box  on  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  stage.  There  I  would  find  a  lady  who  had  been  ad- 
miring my  manly  beauty  for  the  last  six  months.  Her  parents 
had  gone  to  supper  and  perhaps  she'd  be  all  alone  for  an  hour. 
"If  you  feel  so  disposed  to  come,  enter  the  box  without  knock- 
ing." I  told  Mr.  Holmes  I  thought  I  would  go.  He  said,  "By 
all  means,  Charlie:  there  may  be  another  diamond  ring  forth- 
coming." I  went,  opened  the  door  of  the  box  without  knock- 
ing and,  to  my  surprise,  who  do  you  think  I  found?1  A  big.  fat 
nigger  wench.  She  said,  "How  .dare  you  come  in  here,  man, 
without  knocking?  If  you  don't  leave,  I'll  scream."  I  said, 
"For  God's  sake,  don't  scream ;  I'll  leave."  I  went  back  and 
found  Holmes.  He  said,  "What  luck,  Charles?"  I  said.  "The 
best  in  the  world.  She's  as  black  as  old  Abraham."  Then  he 
yelled  so  that  the  people  commenced  to  look  at  us.  I  said.  "For 
Heaven's  sake,  keep  quiet.  I  believe  that's  some  of  that  damned 
Puss'  work." 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  407 

In  about  fifteen  minutes  afterward  I  saw  Puss  dressed  as  a 
beautiful  page,  leaning  on  General  Grant's  arm,  followed  by 
three  other  military  men.  I  think  one  of  them  was  General 
Meade.  One  of  them,  I  know,  was  General  Garfield.  The  other 
one's  face  was  not  familiar  to  me.  As  they  passed  by  where  I 
stood  Puss  threw  his  head  into  the  air  and  said,  "How  glorious 
everything  is,  General,  and  think  how  things  are  getting  mixed 
up."  I  then  understood  who  that  boy  was  with  the  red  curly 
hair  and  the  gray  suit  of  clothes,  with  freckles  on  his  face.  I 
said  to  Holmes,  "Do  you  see  that  page  there,  leaning  on  Gen- 
eral Grant's  arm  ?  That  is  the  red  headed  boy  who  brought  me 
the  note.  That  is  Puss'  art  in  making  up.  He  beats  the  devil 
for  make-ups."  Holmes  said,  "That  page  there  is  a  beautiful, 
voluptuous  girl,  dressed  in  that  page  suit."  1  told  him  it  was 
the  same  individual.  I  said,  "Now  let  us  approach  General 
Grant  and  I  will  introduce  you.  I  have  met  him  before  and  no 
doubt  he  will  remember  me."  We  walked  forward  to  where 
General  Grant  and  the  rest  of  the  party  stood.  I  addressed  him, 
saying.  "General,  1  hope  you  are  enjoying  yourself  tonight?" 
He  looked  at  me  and  said,  "Oh,  this  is  Mr.  Thome,  the  actor 
how  do  you  do,  sir?"  I  then  introduced  Mr.  Holmes.  The  Gen- 
eral said,  "Allow  me  to  introduce  my  little  friend.  He  is  in  the 
same  profession  as  yourself."  The  little  friend  looked  up  at  me 
in  a  very  innocent  way.  saying,  "How  do  you  do  Mr.  Thorne, 
and  also  Mr.  Holmes?  I  am  pleased  to  meet  both  of  you  gen- 
tlemen." I  then  said,  "How  my  leg  hurts."  The  General  said, 
''What  happened  to  it  that  it  hurts  so?"  I  told  him  I  had  re- 
ceived a  vicious  kick  on  it  tonight  from  a  young  lady  friend 
who  used  to  sit  on  my  la]),  pull  my  mustache  and  kiss  me."  Lit- 
tle Puss  looked  up  and  said,  "Oh,  how  cruel  she  must  have  been 
to  kick  such  a  handsome  man  as  you."  Just  then  General  Gar- 
field  stepped  forward  and  said,  "Little  One,  vour  father  is 
beckoning  for  you  to  come  to  him;  he  stands  over  there  with  a 
group  of  ladies;  I  guess  he  wants  to  introduce  you." 

The  Little  One  withdrew  his  arm  from  that  of  the  General's 
saying,  "Gentlemen,  pardon  me;  I  must  go  to  my  father."  After 
the  Little  One  left,  the  General  said,  "Mr.  Thorne.  I  was  sur- 
prised that  you  did  not  know  Little  Justin.  I  thought  that  most 
ot  the  profession  knew  him."  Mr.  Holmes  said.  "General,  why 


408         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

do  you  call  it  a  him,  it  looks  more  like  a  girl?"  The  General 
said,  "It  is  both."  I  then  addressed  the  General,  saying,  ''I  have 
danced  that  little  creature  up  and  down  on  my  knee  many  a 
time."  I  addressed  the  other  gentlemen,  saying,  "Would  you 
like  to  hear  of  a  little  romance  that  took  place  tonight  in  real 
life  in  this  Academy  of  Music?"  The  gentlemen  all  consented. 
I  said,  "Then,  gentlemen,  let  us  go  to  a  place  where  we  can  get 
wine  and  cigars." 

As  we  were  walking  off  General  Meade  said,  "Why,  Mr. 
Thome,  you  are  lame."  I  said,  "Yes,  that  belongs  to  the  ro- 
mance." We  found  a  room  and  I  ordered  \vine  and  cigars.  After 
they  had  been  furnished  I  closed  the  door  and  said,  "Now,  gen- 
tlemen, for  the  little  romance  in  real  life." 

I  told  them  the  w?hole  story  just  as  I  have  told  it  to  you.  I 
discovered,  when  I  had  finished,  that  General  Meade  was  laugh- 
ing so  he  had  to  hold  his  sides.  I  said,  "General  Meade,  why 
do  you  laugh  so  much?  Have  you  ever  met  this  creature  be- 
fore in  your  life?"  He  said,  "Have  I?  I  should  say  so.  To  me, 
Mr.  Thorne,  he  is  one  of  the  dearest  little  creatures  on  the  face 
of  this  earth.  I  would  do  much  in  life  to  serve  Little  Puss.  I 
think,  if  he  was  taken  away  from  Brother  YYarren,  he'd  commit 
suicide.  That  little  creature,  as  you  call  him,  is  the  apple  of 
Warren's  eye,  for  you  can  see,  when  they  are  apart  from  each 
other  a  few  days,  he  is  one  of  the  most  miserable  men  living. 
He  is  always  saying,  'If  my  little  baby  was  only  here  with  me 
now  I  would  be  a  happy  man.'  I  think  he  gets  but  very  little 
sleep  when  they  are  apart."  Mr.  Holmes  said,  "I  should  think 
such  an  individual  as  that  would  make  a  good  spy  during  a  war." 
I  noticed  General  Meade  turned  pale.  He  arose  from  the  chair 
and  said,  "Gentlemen,  let  us  return  to  the  ball.  There  is  some 
one  there  that  I  want  to  talk  to  before  they  leave  for  their 
home." 

We  re-entered  the  ballroom  and  mingled  among  the  peo- 
ple. After  a  little  while  I  missed  General  Meade  from  the  party. 
I  did  not  see  him,  Mr.  Warren  or  the  Little  One  again  that  night. 
We  will  continue  at  another  time.  They  say  I  have  held  him 
long  enough  for  today. 

Wednesday,  February  24,   1904. 

Good    morning,   friend   and   brother.      I    do   not   come   alone 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  409 

this  beautiful  morning.  I  bring  an  old  friend  of  Puss.  One  who 
has  had  a  great  desire  to  look  upon  Puss'  old  physical  body.  As 
you  would  express  it — that  is,  you  who  live  in  a  physical  body. 
The  old  friend  is  Edwin  Booth,  well  known  to  the  American 
public.  As  we  approached  your  resting  spot,  or  what  the  spirits 
call  Searchlight  Bower,  Edwin  expressed  himself  thus:  "This 
is  beautiful.  I  know  it  must  please  Puss  for  he  was  always  so 
fond  of  the  woods.  If  there  was  only  a  stream  of  running  water 
here  it  would  be  an  ideal  spot  on  earth.  I  remember  one  time 
when  Little  Puss  and  Mr.  Warren  made  me  a  visit  at  Newport. 
We  made  a  two  days'  trip  back  into  the  country.  The  Little 
One  was  delighted  and  saw  a  thousand  things  on  the  road  that 
we  did  not  notice.  He  kept  saying,  'Oh,  Papa,  just  look  there ; 
isn't  that  perfectly  beautiful?'  Perhaps  it  would  be  some  wild 
flower  or  a  peculiar  looking  bush  or  some  odd-looking  tree.  A 
quaint  looking  rock,  covered  with  moss,  or  perhaps  a  little  cot- 
tage, with  vines  running  over  it.  I  have  seen  him  go  into 
ecstacies  over  a  cur  dog  because  it  had  beautiful  eyes  and  a 
bushy  tail.  At  Mr.  Graham's  farmhouse,  where  we  stopped  over 
night,  they  had  a  female  dog  that  had  seven  pups.  He  sat  down 
in  the  midst  of  them  and  had  all  the  pups  around  him.  feeding 
them  with  cake,  while  the  mother  dog  was  licking  his  face.  He 
hollered  out,  'Old  Booth,  did  you  ever  see  anything  more  beau- 
tiful than  these  pups?  Just  look  at  the  different  colors  they've 
got  on  their  bodies.  I  tell  you,  Old  Booth,  mother  nature  is  the 
greatest  artist  I  ever  knew.  I  don't  care  what  anybody  says 
about  her:  she's  boss  in  that  line.'  Presently  some  of  the  child- 
ren came  out  from  their  supper.  Puss  said,  when  he  saw  them. 
'Say.  kids,  don't  you  want  to  play  tag?'  They  consented;  they 
were  all  oft  on  a  race  among  the  trees.  It  did  me  good  to  hear 
them  laugh  and  holler  to  one  another.  Just  then  Mr.  Warren 
approached  with  the  tanner.  They  were  both  enjoying  a  smoke. 
Mr.  Warren  said.  'Edwin,  where  is  my  Little  One?'  I  said.  '(Hit 
there  in  the  orchard  playing  tag  with  the  children.'  lie  laughed 
and  said,  'Little  Puss  will  never  grow  old  like  other  folks.'  The 
fanner  said,  'Why.  give  him  time.'  Mr.  Warren  said  to  the 
tanner,  'Mow  old  do  von  think  lie  is?'  The  fanner  said.  '1  should 
think  between  tourteen  and  fifteen,  somewhere  there.'  That 
made  me  laugh.  Mr.  Warren  said,  'lie  is  in  his  thirtv-ninth 


410        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

year/  The  farmer  said,  'Oh,  what  are  you  talking  about,  Mr. 
Warren?  I  know,  I  live  in  the  country,  but  I  ain't  a  fool.'  Mr. 
Warren  then  said,  'I  will  leave  it  to  Mr.  Booth  ;  ask  him  how 
long  he  has  known  my  Little  One.'  I  told  the  farmer  I  had 
known  him  for  over  thirty  years.  He  then  said,  'Good  God;  is 
it  possible?'  Mr.  Warren  said,  'He  will  be  thirty-nine  next  No- 
vember/ 

As  we  were  returning  home,  we  stopped  at  a  farmhouse  to 
get  lunch.  The  family  bore  the  name  of  Dumont.  While  we 
were  sitting  in  the  parlor,  waiting  for  the  lady  of  the  house  to 
prepare  lunch,  Mr.  Dumont's  hat  was  pushed  over  several  times 
on  to  his  face.  He  had  just  come  from  the  outside  and  did  not 
take  off  his  hat,  as  he  intended  to  go  out  again.  Mr.  Dumont 
looked  around  to  see  who  had  pushed  his  hat  over  his  face,  but 
there  was  no  one  there.  It  was  pushed  over  his  face  three  dif- 
ferent times.  He  said,  'Which  of  yon  three  is  the  medium?  I 
know  that  is  done  by  spirit  power/  I  said.  'Are  you  spirit- 
ualists?' He  said,  'Yes,  my  oldest  daughter  is  quite  a  medium/ 
She  was  called  into  the  room  and,  as  she  came  forward  to  be 
introduced,  the  hair  pins  were  taken  out  of  her  hair  by  some 
spirit  hand  that  we  could  not  see.  Her  beautiful  long  brown 
hair  fell  down  her  back.  The  hair  pins  were  placed  on  top  of 
my  head.  When  we  were  called  to  lunch  the  daughter  and  Puss 
were  walking  out  of  the  room  holding  each  other's  hands  when, 
all  of  a  sudden,  they  gave  a  yell,  whirled  into  the  center  of  the 
room  and  commenced  to  dance  an  Indian  war  dance ;  they  sang 
all  the  time  they  were  dancing. 

Warren  said  to  me,  'Won't  I  be  glad  when  we  get  away 
from  here/  I  laughed  and  thought  to  myself,  'The  old  man  is 
getting  a  little  soft  in  the  upper  story/  "  That  is  the  tale  he 
told  me.  He  laughs  while  I  tell  it  to  you  and  says,  "I  am  glad 
that  there  are  so  many  large  trees  here  for  Puss  to  walk  under." 

Xow  I  will  relate  to  you  something  that  occurred — or  I 
should  say  came  to  pass — at  Saratoga,  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
while  I  was  making  a  visit  with  a  friend  whose  name  was  Jos- 
eph Rhodes.  This  Mr.  Rhodes  was  the  grandson  of  an  old 
Scotch  family  who  lived  on  Broadway,  above  13th  street.  They 
knew  Puss  when  he  was  a  little  bit  of  a  creature,  learning  to 
speak  plain  English.  While  visiting  at  Saratoga  I  saw  by  the 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  411 

morning  paper  that  the  "Dashing  Blanchard"  would  open  next 
Monday  night  at  the  theatre  in  a  comedy  called  "Flirtation."  I 
saw,  in  the  list  of  names,  several  people  that  I  was  acquainted 
with.  I  went  to  the  depot  to  meet  them  and,  as  the  train  was 
coming  into  the  station,  I  saw  a  fine  carriage  drive  up,  with  a 
negro  coachman  sitting  up  in  front.  When  the  train  stopped 
and  the  passengers  commenced  to  alight  from  the  train,  the  first 
one  that  I  discovered,  belonging  to  the  company,  was  my  old 
friend,  Mr.  Larkins,  of  San  Francisco.  The  next  one  that  I  rec- 
ognized was  Mrs.  Baker,  the  old  lady  of  the  company.  They 
were  a  little  surprised  to  see  me  there  and  we  had  a  hearty 
laugh.  While  I  was  about  to  offer  my  arm  to  Mrs.  Baker  to 
escort  her  to  the  hotel  three  (lashing  young  bloods  came  up. 
One  of  them  I  recognized  as  young  Monroe,  of  New  Jersey. 
Larkins  said  to  me,  "Charlie,  do  you  see  those  three  young  fel- 
lows there?  They  have  followed  us  to  several  towns — that  Mon- 
roe thinks  he  is  smitten  on  the  Dashing  Blanchard.  They  are 
three  'angels'  for  the  boys.  They  furnish  the  wine  and  cigars 
and  pay  for  the  billiards.  Charlie,  my  boy,  we  are  in  clover 
while  that  lasts."  Mrs.  Baker  said,  "Oh,  Charles,  1  believe  that 
Puss  would  flirt  with  the  Saviour  if  he  was  here.  My,  I  wish  I 
had  the  money  that  those  three  fools  have  paid  for  flowers  to 
present  to  that  strange  creature.  She  has  no  more  feeling  in 
her  than  a  marble  statue.  Charles,  you  must  come  tonight  and 
watch  her  when  she  comes  to  the  third  act.  She's  a  blaze  of 
diamonds  as  she  enters  the  ball  room.  How  strange  it  is  that 
men  become  infatuated  with  such  a  queer  creature  as  that  Puss 
is."  Mr.  Larkins  said.  "There  she  goes  now  on  the  arm  of  Mr. 
Drexel.  See,  they  enter  that  carriage.  Here  comes  Mr.  War- 
ren." He  also  entered  the  carriage  and  they  drove  off.  Mr. 
Larkins  said,  "Drexel  came  to  Albany  to  meet  the  company  and 
has  been  with  us  ever  since." 

As  we  walked  toward  the  hotel  I  said,  "Puss  lives  in  wo- 
men's clothes  this  trip?"  Mrs.  Baker  said,  "Oh  yes;  she  is  one 
of  the  sweetest  creatures  I  ever  knew,  but  she  has  queer  ways 
with  her.  She  doesn't  understand  the  value  of  monev.  God 
help  her  if  Mr.  Warren  is  taken  away  from  her.  He  has  to 
watch  her  all  the  time  or  some  one  of  the  company  will  borrow 
monev  from  her.  We  are  out  on  the  road  for  three  months. 


412        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Just  look  at  those  fools,"  she  said,  "down  the  street  there  stand- 
ing with  their  hats  off  until  the  carriage  passes.  Talk  about 
women  being  weak.  They  don't  compare  with  men  that  haven't 
brains."  At  that  we  had  to  laugh.  Larkins  said,  "The  ghost 
walks  every  Monday  morning."  That  means  that  salaries  were 
paid  regularly.  "We  are  doing  a  big  business  and  Warren  is 
laying  away  the  shekels  for  a  rainy  day." 

I  was  about  to  bid  them  good  by,  at  the  hotel,  when  Mr. 
Warren  approached,  saying,  "Thome,  my  boy,  I  am  glad  to  see 
you.  Come,  Larkins,  join  us  in  a  glass  of  wine."  After  we  had 
drank  our  wine  he  said,  "Thome,  I  have  a  number  of  duties  to 
attend  to.  Come  this  evening  and  see  the  company.  Bring  your 
friends.  A  box  will  be  at  your  service."  I  went  that  evening 
with  my  friends.  We  enjoyed  the  comedy  and  also  the  farce, 
"Xan,  the  Good-for-Xothing,"  in  which  character  Puss  had  no 
rival.  As  we  were  leaving  the  box  Mr.  Warren  called  me 
one  side  and  said,  "When  you  have  accompanied  your  friends 
to  their  home,  return  and  take  supper  with  us.  We  are  stopping 
at  the  Drexel  cottage."  I  returned  to  the  Drexel  cottage  and 
was  received  graciously  by  Mr.  Drexel  and  Mr.  Warren.  When 
we  entered  the  dining  room  I  saw  a  large  assembly  present. 
The  guests  consisted  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

While  we  were  dining,  we  heard  music  in  an  adjoining  room 
which  was  quite  soothing  to  the  nerves.  After  the  repast  was 
finished  and  we  had  withdrawn  to  the  large  drawing  room,  there 
was  music,  consisting  of  singing  and  instrumental  playing. 
While  the  enjoyment  was  at  its  height,  we  heard  some  terrible 
screams  in  the  garden.  Several  of  us  rushed  out  to  see  what 
was  the  matter  and  there,  coming  toward  us,  was  a  girl  with 
blood  on  her  hair,  on  her  clothes,  face  and  arms.  She  was 
screaming  that  a  bull  dog  had  attacked  her  after  she  had  come 
through  the  gate  into  the  grounds.  Some  of  the  gentlemen 
helped  her  up  while  another  one  brought  a  glass  of  wine.  After 
she  had  drank  the  glass  of  wine  she  said  to  the  men.  "Dear,  good 
gentlemen,  let  me  lie  in  there  on  one  of  those  rugs,  my  body 
hurts  me  so."  I  think  she  was  the  most  horribly  mutilated 
creature  I  ever  looked  on.  They  helped  her  in  and  she  dropped 
onto  one  of  the  rugs.  Some  of  the  ladies  screamed  and  rushed 
from  the  room,  while  others  went  toward  her  out  of  pity  for  her 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  413 

condition.  One  of  the  ladies  asked  her,  "What  did  you  want 
here,  my  poor  child,  in  the  garden?"  She  said,  "I  go  around 
singing  for  money  to  support  my  people.  My  father  has  no 
arms  and  only  one  leg.  My  mother  has  lost  one  of  her  eyes 
and  she  has  only  one  arm  and  one  leg.  They  were  in  a  smash-up 
on  the  railroad." 

She  cried  so  while  she  was  telling  it  that  the  ladies  present 
and  some  of  the  men,  cried  also.  She  told  her  story  so  pitifully 
that  I  couldn't  hold  hack  the  tears.  She  said  that  she  heard 
there  was  to  be  a  party  here  tonight  and  she  thought  she  would 
come  and  sing  for  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  and  perhaps  they 
would  give  her  some  money.  She  said  that,  just  as  soon  as  she 
got  inside  of  the  gate,  the  dog  tackled  her.  Mr.  Drexel  said, 
"God  pity  you.  my  poor  child."  Taking  out  his  pocket  book  he 
handed  her  some  money.  Others  in  the  room  did  the  same.  He 
rang  the  bell  for  a  servant  to  come — that  is,  he  touched  the  but- 
ton and  the  black  servant  made  his  appearance.  He  said,  "Go 
and  bring  two  of  the  female  servants,  that  they  may  take  this 
unfortunate  girl  and  bathe  her  and  put  clean  clothes  upon  her." 
In  about  five  minutes  two  female  servants  entered  the  room. 
They  went  to  the  miserable  looking  creature,  saying,  "Poor  girl, 
let  us  help  you  :  come  with  us  and  we  will  bathe  you  ;  then  we 
will  see  what  can  be  done  for  you."  As  they  were  about  to  raise 
her  up  she  said,  "Villains,  unhand  me,"  and  jumped  into  the 
middle  of  the  floor  and  commenced  to  dance  the  "Highland 
Fling."  Then  went  up  a  yell  from  the  guests  present.  I  knew 
it  was  that  rogue.  Puss. 

While  she  was  dancing  off  went  one  of  her  dirtv  old  shoes 
into  a  lady's  la]),  who  was  dressed  superbly  for  the  occasion. 
She  screamed  and  would  have  fainted  had  it  not  been  for  the 
timely  service  of  a  glass  of  wine. 

Puss  bolted  from  the  room  as  if  he  had  wings  on.  Xo  one 
tried  to  prevent  him — or  her,  I  should  sav — as  she  was  all  cov- 
ered with  blood.  Puss  at  that  time  wore  women's  clothes. 

Alter  she  had  left  the  room  such  shouting  and  laughing 
was  enough  to  bring  a  dead  man  back  to  life,  if  such  a  thing 
could  be  possible,  as  I  thought  then.  We  made  the  discovery 
that  Puss  had  hired  one  of  the  black  servants  that  afternoon  to 
go.  in  the  evening,  to  the  slaughter  house  and  buv  a  pail  of 


414         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

blood  and  keep  it  out  at  the  carriage  house  until  she  should  want 
to  use  it.  She  got  the  negro  boy  to  smear  her  all  over  with 
blood.  Mr.  Drexel  said,  "Ladies,  that  beats  anything  I  ever  saw 
in  my  life.  She  was  born  for  the  stage." 

That  evening — or  I  should  say  that  morning,  rather — I  had 
the  pleasure  of  dancing  with  Puss,  who  wore  a  beautiful  white 
silk  dress  covered  with  tulle  and  peacock  feathers.  I  asked  her 
if  she  remembered  when  I  used  to  dance  her  on  my  knee.  She 
said,  "Yes,  I  do,  Charles,"  and  gave  me  one  of  the  sweetest 
kisses  that,  I  think,  I  ever  received  from  her.  I  was  a  happy 
man  and  felt  that  she  was  entitled  to  the  name  (rap)  "The 
Queen  of  Comedy." 

There  were  many  other  things  that  took  place  during  her 
stay  in  Saratoga,  which  we  will  give  at  another  time.  We  will 
continue  at  another  time. 

Thursday,  February  25,   1904. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  Once  more  I  come  upon 
the  stage  of  action  to  continue  my  communication. 

The  last  evening  of  the  performance  of  "Flirtation"  and 
''Xan,  the  Goocl-for-Xothing,"  Little  Puss  was  presented  by  Mr. 
Drexel  with  a  cluster  diamond  ring.  A  Mr.  Hepworth  invited 
the  company  to  lunch  at  his  home.  The  invitation  extended  to 
me  also.  \\'e  had  what  you  call  in  the  physical  body,  a  grand 
time.  About  twelve  o'clock  a  lady,  one  of  the  guests  present, 
came  forward  to  where  Puss  was  standing  talking  to  some  of 
the  guests  and  presented  her  with  a  beautiful  Spanish  veil.  I 
believe  in  Spain  they  call  it  a  mantilla.  The  old  lady  said  she 
had  purchased  it  in  Madrid,  while  there  on  a  visit  with  her  hus- 
band. She  placed  it  around  Puss  :  it  was  a  magnificent  piece  of 
workmanship,  done  by  Spanish  women. 

Afterward  while  sitting  and  conversing  in  the  conservatory 
near  some  palms,  a  gentleman  said  to  me,  "Well,  Mr.  Thome, 
I  am  glad  to  have  met  you.  I  wish  you  were  going  with  me  to 
England  next  week  :  England  is  my  home,  you  know."  1  told 
him  1  judged  so  from  his  manner  of  speech.  Puss,  who  was 
near  by.  overheard  our  conversation,  turned  around  and  said. 
"Mr.  Paine,  do  not  leave  on  that  steamer  that  you  are  booked 
for,  wait  and  take  the  next  steamer.  Your  passage  will  be 
stormy,  but  you  will  get  to  England  all  right."  Mr.  Payne  said 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  415 

"Why  should  I  not  take  that  steamer  that  I  am  booked  for?" 
Puss  said,  "The  voice  tells  me  to  tell  you  that  something  is  go- 
ing to  happen  to  her  when  she  is  out  on  the  ocean."  He  laughed 
and  said,  "Oh,  I  don't  believe  in  any  such  warnings  as  that.  That 
is  what  I  call  superstition.  You  just  imagined  that.  You  are  as 
bad  as  those  people  they  call  spiritualists.  They  believe  in  all 
kinds  of  warnings,  you  know."  Puss  looked  at  him  with  a  fierce 
look  and  a  peculiar  expression  to  his  eyes.  He  said,  "I'm  Scotch, 
you  know,  and  Sir  Robert  Paine  tells  me  you  should  not  go  on 
that  steamer."  Mr.  Paine  said,  "\Yhy,  that  was  my  father's 
name  when  he  lived  in  the  body.  What  other  proof  can  you 
give  me?  Puss  raised  his  right  hand  and  moved  his  index  fin- 
ger as  if  he  was  writing  numbers  in  space.  I  saw  Mr.  Paine 
then  turn  pale.  Puss  read  the  figures  4603  with  a  fraction.  Mr. 
Paine  jumped  from  the  chair,  clasped  his  hand  over  his  heart 
and  fell  forward  on  the  floor.  The  servants  were  summoned  to 
carry  him  to  a  room  upstairs  and  a  doctor  was  sent  for.  He  ex- 
amined him  and  said,  "This  man  has  received  a  terrible  shock  in 
some  way.  I  think  I  can  bring  him  around,  all  right."  They 
worked  over  him  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  showed 
signs  of  returning  life. 

I  saw  the  company  away  in  the  morning,  bidding  them  good 
bye  at  the  depot.  I  told  Mr.  Warren  I  would  make  him  a  visit 
at  his  cottage  in  Atlantic  City,  as  requested. 

At  the  hour  of  eleven  I  went  to  see  how  the  patient  was. 
I  was  admitted  to  the  room.  He  could  talk  then.  I  sat  down  on 
a  chair  in  front  of  the  bed.  He  looked  at  me  for  some  time  and 
then  said,  "Where  is  that  witch:  the  Bible  says  they  should  not 
be  permitted  to  live.  She  gives  up  the  secrets  of  the  dead  and 
should  be  stoned  to  death.  I  hate  her  and  if  it  were  not  for  the 
law  I'd  have  her  put  out  of  the  way.  I  believe  they  call  you 
Thome,"  be  said  to  me.  "Do  you  remember  the  number  she 
gave?"  I  told  him  I  did.  She  gave  them  so  decided  that  I  kept 
them  in  mind.  I  told  him  Puss  was  a  strange  little  creature 
and  no  one  seemed  to  understand  him.  He  said.  "Why  do  you 
say  him,  when  it's  a  female?"  I  told  him  the  creature  was  of 
both  sexes,  the  female  predominating.  He  said,  "Who  is  this 
man  \\arren,  who  travels  with  her:"  I  told  him  be  was  guar- 
dian, father  and  husband :  he  discovered  the  little  creature  in 


416        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

1848  and  they  have  lived  together  ever  since,  and  I  judge  will 
do  so  until  death  separates  them,  for  I  believed  that  when  you 
died,  that  was  the  last  of  you.  He  put  his  hand  out  and  grasped 
mine,  saying,  "Charles  Thorne,  I  want  you  to  give  me  your 
solemn  oath  as  a  gentleman  and  scholar,  that  you  will  never 
reveal  those  numbers  to  any  living  person."  I  gave  him  my  sol- 
emn promise.  He  took  a  ring  off  his  finger.  It  was  an  emerald 
surrounded  with  diamonds.  He  placed  it  on  my  finger,  saying, 
"This  seals  the  oath  and  we  are  friends  for  the  rest  of  our  lives. 
Charles,  I  wish  you  could  go  to  England  with  me."  I  told  him 
I  could  not  then,  as  I  had  signed  a  contract  for  the  coming  sea- 
son. 

He  waited  for  the  next  steamer.  I  went  to  Xew  York  with 
him  and  saw  him  comfortably  fixed  in  his  stateroom.  The 
steamer  that  he  was  booked  for  caught  fire  while  out  on  the 
ocean.  They  worked  their  pumps  and  finally  put  the  fire  out. 
Some  of  the  passengers  became  so  frightened  they  lost  their 
reasoning  power  and  threw  themselves  into  the  sea. 

In  a  week  I  joined  Mr.  AYarren  and  friends  at  his  cottage 
by  the  sea.  One  day  I  asked  Puss  if  he  remembered  the  num- 
bers that  he  thought  he  saw  in  space.  He  said,  "Xo,  Charlie, 
I  do  not :  when  anything  like  that  comes  it  passes  away  and 
that  is  the  last  of  it." 

Three  weeks  after  Mr.  Paine  arrived  in  England  1  received 
a  letter  in  which  he  said,  "Charles,  come  to  England  and  make 
me  a  long  visit.  My  house  and  my  servants  are  at  your  service." 
.Vine  months  after  that  he  passed  away.  It  was  discovered  that 
he  had  \\ronged  his  sisters  and  brothers.  Those  figures  that 
Puss  told  him,  were  a  forgery  that  he  had  committed  and, 
tli rough  that  forger v  he  got  possession  of  property  that  did  not 
bel»ng  to  him.  His  oldest  sister,  Rachel,  wrote  me  that  the 
family  had  lost  all  respect  for  his  memory.  1  kept  my  oath  and 
communication  between  me  and  the  lamily  ceased  then  and 
there. 

.\o\\-  1  wish  to  give  you  an  explanation  as  to  how  I  found 
it  when  passing  through  the  dark  shadow  called  death.  1  had 
a  strong  will  power  and  was  only  unconscious  for  a  little  while. 
My  phvsical  struggles  with  death  were  strong  for  some  time. 
At  last  the  physical  succumbed  to  the  spiritual,  in  which  I  did 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  417 

not  believe.  When  I  awoke  to  my  reasoning  faculties,  I  dis- 
covered— or  I  should  say — I  beheld  several  of  my  professional 
sisters  and  brothers  smiling  at  me.  I  said,  "What  does  this 
mean?  Why  am  I  here?  This  must  be  a  dream.  You  are  all 
dead."  They  laughed  and  said,  "Xo  more  than  you  are,  Charles 
Thorne.  This  is  what  they  call  the  new  birth.  \Ve  are  more 
alive  than  we  ever  were.  This  is  what  they  call  the  'Spirit's 
awakening.'  You  have  awoke  into  real  life — the  eternal  life." 
Mr.  Fox  said,  "I  know,  Charles,  you  do  not  believe  in  this.  You 
thought  when  you  passed  from  your  physical  body  that  was  the 
last  of  you.  While  living  in  your  physical  body  you  had  great 
will  power.  Now  permit  it  to  get  to  work  and  come  with  us." 
I  said.  "Where  are  you  going?"  They  said  in  accord,  "To  the 
social  condition  in  which  we  live."  I  said,  "Then  I'm  a  spirit, 
am  I?"  They  said,  "You  certainly  are."  "Well,"  I  said,  "do 
you  live  in  homes  here?"  They  said,  "To  be  sure:  come  with  us 
and  we  will  show  you."  I  said,  "What's  to  become  of  the  wo- 
man that  I  loved  on  earth?"  l"p  spoke  Mr.  Christy  and  said. 
"Charles,  you  will  live  in  her  memory — that  is  all  that's  re- 
quired. Look  back  at  your  physical  body  there,  and  bid  it  good 
bye." 

I  found  I  could  stand  on  my  feet  and  look  at  that  phvsical 
body  that  women  had  admired  so  much  while  it  had  health  and 
vigor  on  its  side.  1  said  to  it.  "You  poor,  emaciated  thing.  I  had 
to  shed  you  like  a  snake  does  his  old  skin."  1  turned  and  said 
to  the  friends.  "Lead  me:  1  am  ready  to  go  with  you.  1  do  not 
want  to  look  back  on  that  empty  shell  any  longer.  This  is 
Charles  Thorne  who  is  talking  to  von  now.  So  that  dark  shadow 
that  came  upon  me  is  what  you  call  death.  Then  there  is  no 
Hell  or  Heaven?"  They  all  spoke  as  it  seemed  to  me.  with  one 
voice.  "Oh.  yes  there  is.  Charles,  there  is  a  Hell  of  Conscience 
and  you  cannot  escape  paying  the  penaltv  for  crimes  committed 
in  the  physical  body.  There  is  a  heaven  for  exalted  souls  and 
you  only  reach  it  by  paying  the  penalty  tor  your  misdeeds  and 
cruel  actions  toward  those  living  in  physical  bodies.  When  von 
have  found  the  real  Charles  Thorne  and  understand  him.  you 
will  make  the  discoverv  that  he  is  the  '!'  belonging  to  all  spir- 
itual existence.  There  is  one  great  life  in  nature  called  the  spir- 
itual Ciod.  and  when  you  understand  you  are  part  of  that  spirit. 


418         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

you  are  the  real  T  in  the  great  union  of  love  going  out  toward 
your  fellow  beings.  Then  you  will  realize  that  Life  is  eternal 
and  you  are  part  of  that  great  Life,  just  as  much  as  the  differ- 
ent Suns  that  warm  planets.  When  you  become  thoroughly 
spiritualized,  then  the  radiation  that  emanates  from  your  spirit- 
ual condition  will  become  a  blessing  to  those  that  you  approach, 
living  in  physical  bodies.  Charles,  there  is  no  waste  of  time 
here.  All  is  action  and  the  closer  you  come  en  rapport  with 
that  great  spiritual  condition  called  'Nature  elements'  then  you 
will  begin  to  understand  why  you  lived  in  a  physical  body."  Mr. 
Davenport  said,  "Come,  Charles,"  taking  me  by  the  hand,  ''and 
we  will  show  you  where  we  live."  I  walked  along  with  the 
friends  and  looked  upon  many  homes ;  some  w-ere  beautiful  and 
others  were  just  building  (rap.)  I  said,  "How  beautiful  every- 
thing is  here."  Davenport  drew  my  arm  through  his  and  said, 
"Charles,  my  boy,  you  can  live  here  when  you  have  earned  it, 
and  not  before.  You  will  rest  awhile  with  us  and  then  depart 
back  to  earth,  where  you  will  come  en  rapport  with  those  you 
have  wronged.  When  you  see  and  understand  the  true  spiritual 
light  I  know,  with  your  will  power,  you  will  go  to  work  like  a 
man  and  make  restitution  to  those  whom  you  have  wronged. 
You  will  bring  comfort  to  sad  hearts  ;  there  is  good  material  in 
you,  Charles,  awaiting  (rap)  a  thorough  spiritual  awakening." 
When  I  reached  the  abode  where  they  lived,  they  all  com- 
menced to  sing  beautiful  spiritual  music.  Oh,  it  was  grand, 
brother,  and  I  wish  I  could  convey  to  you  the  real  musical  mel- 
ody of  the  music  they  sang.  After  they  had  finished  singing, 
three  boys  and  two  girls  came  forward,  approached  me  with 
flowers  in  their  hands  and  they  said,  as  they  offered  them  to  me, 
"Father,  these  are  for  you."  I  was  astonished  and.  looked  at 
them.  They  smiled  and  said,  ""We  came  through  your  seed 
while  you  lived  in  a  physical  body.  There  are  four  others  still 
living  in  physical  bodies.  One  will  reach  here  in  a  few  days, 
the  child  of  Mary  Cummings,  whom  you  wronged  by  the  flattery 
you  gave  her  and  the  costly  presents  you  bestowed  on  her."  A 
cold  feeling  came  over  my  condition,  for  I  knew  they  spoke  the 
truth.  I  had  seduced  her  through  the  promise  of  playing  her 
upon  the  stage.  So  you  see,  brother,  I  was  anything  but  a  moral 
man.  She.  to  whom  I  gave  best  of  my  love,  if  love  you  could 


CHARLES  R.  THORNE,  JR.  419 

call  it,  she  thought  me  moral  and  true.  Oh,  how  flattery  and 
a  good  appearance  can  cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  The  awaken- 
ing, brother,  the  awakening  is  a  terrible  experience,  but  I  must 
face  it  like  a  man  and  pay  the  penalty  for  my  past  crimes.  I 
pray  to  the  great  spiritual  existence  that  has  awoke  in  my  soul 
the  power  of  Reason  that  they  will  help  me  to  beautify  the  lives 
that  I  had  tainted  through  my  manly  beauty,  and  that  many  in 
my  profession  and  those  outside  of  it,  in  other  walks  of  life, 
will  read  your  book,  wherein  they  will  find  my  communication, 
and  I  hope  it  will  be  a  warning  to  other  men  of  my  ilk.  I  feel 
glad  to  think  I  have  been  able  to  give  this  communication 
through  Little  Justin's  organism. 

Put  me  down  as  Charles  Thorne,  Jr.,  an  actor  well  known 
to  the  American  public,  especially  in  Xew  York,  Philadelphia, 
Pioston  and  Chicago. 

I  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communication  and  my 
holiest  of  regards  and  spiritual  friendship  for  Little  Justin,  who 
often  told  me  1  would  have  to  pay  the  penalty  sometime  (rap) 
for  the  life  I  had  lived  and  the  luxuries  I  had  indulged  in  with 
the  female  sex  (if  such  it  could  be  called.)  "You  may  laugh 
now,"  he  would  say,  ''but  when  remorse  comes  on  the  other  side 
of  death  it  is  worse  than  a  brimstone  hell.  You  are  a  handsome 
man  to  look  at,  but  oh,  Charlie,  that  beauty  has  to  lade  :  heed 
the  warning  while  you  are  yet  young."  I  laughed  and  said, 
"A  short  life  and  a  merry  one,  and  get  all  the  enjoyment  I  can 
out  of  it.''  I  thank  you  again,  brother,  and  hope  my  commu- 
nication will  be  a  warning,  not  only  to  my  professional  brethren, 
but  to  others  who  knew  me  outside. 


Mary  Gannon  (Estelle) 

Chapter  XXXVII 


Thursday,  May  26,  1904. 

Good  morning,  friend,  brother  and  scholar.  I  have  been  re- 
quested to  come  here  to  Searchlight  Bower  by  Mr.  Warren  and 
some  of  the  friends  in  order  to  give  you  an  explanation  of  some 
of  the  facts  that  took  place  in  your  medium's  life.  Leah  Fox 
accompanies  me  here  this  morning. 

\Yhen  I  lived  in  the  physical  body  I  became  well  acquaint- 
ed with  your  medium.  Permit  me  to  give  you  my  name  before 
I  proceed  any  further.  I  was  christened  Mary  Gannon  ;  I  am 
English  born;  my  birth  took  place  in  Birmingham,  England.  I 
came  through  the  condition  of  poverty,  as  you  call  it.  My  fa- 
ther was  a  poor  weaver  and,  as  the  common  saying  is,  by  the 
ignorant  class,  "a  poor  stick  at  that.  Possibly,  if  he  had  re- 
ceived a  good  education,  he  could  have  trod  a  different  walk 
in  life  from  that  which  he  was  walking.  His  nature  was  made 
up  of  love,  and  he  was  what  the  world  would  call  rather  refined 
for  a  poor  man.  He  loved  flowers  and  art.  As  a  little  girl,  I 
have  seen  him  stand  for  an  hour  at  a  time  and  look  upon  the 
great  change  in  shadows  in  the  sky.  He  passed  away  from  his 
body.  It  was  buried  by  the  town,  in  a  poor  man's  grave.  His 
name  was  Benjamin  Gannon.  My  mother  came  from  a  better 
class  of  people,  as  society  calls  it.  She  loved  my  father,  married 
him  and  shared  his  poverty.  Her  name  was  Ellen  Douglas.  Her 
ancestors  were  Scotch,  while  those  of  my  father  were  Irish. 
Both  of  my  parents  were  English  born.  I  came  to  this  country 
at  the  age  of  seven  years.  I  lived  with  an  aunt  and  uncle  whose 
names  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pendergrass.  \\  e  lived  on  Hudson 
street.  \e\v  York  Citv.  As  1  grew  into  womanhood  I  was  known 
to  the  reading  public  as  "Estelle." 

\\'hen    I   first  met  vour  medium,  it   was  sixtv  vears  ago.     I 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  421 

was  on  board  a  boat  sailing  down  the  bay  from  New  York  as 
far  as  the  Narrows.  It  was  what  you  call  an  excursion  on  the 
water.  ( )n  board  of  that  boat  were  a  great  variety  of  people, 
not  only  in  their  minds  but  in  their  physical  anatomy. 

I  became  tired  standing  and  thought  I  would  sit  down  on 
a  long  bench  on  the  deck:  while  sitting  there  and  looking  at  the 
great  perspective  view  in  the  distance,  two  tall  gentlemen  ap- 
proached the  bench,  holding  a  little  girl  by  the  hand.  They  sat 
down  on  the  bench,  the  little  girl  sitting  between  them.  I  no- 
ticed the  gentleman  lifted  the  little  girl  up  in  his  arms.  He  said 
to  the  little  girl,  "Now,  baby,  see  all  that's  to  be  seen."  Oh,  she 
had  such  a  pretty  face  and  her  eyes  attracted  me  so  that  I  ad- 
dressed the  strange  gentleman,  saying.  "I  think  your  little 
daughter  is  so  pretty/'  He  said,  "She  is  not  my  daughter.  She 
is  my  love  and  I  am  her  guardian."  Just  then  the  captain  of 
the  boat  approached  the  gentleman,  saying.  "Warren,  will  you 
let  your  Little  One  sing  for  us  now?  It  is  nice  and  calm  here." 
The  Little  One  laughed  and  said,  "How  I'd  like  to  sing  in  a 
storm  on  the  water."  Her  guardian  said.  "She  will  sing  for  you 
here  in  the  calm,  and  perhaps  later  she  will  have  a  chance  to 
sing  in  a  storm."  I  expected  to  hear  a  baby  voice;  instead  of 
that  I  heard  a  powerful  soprano.  The  people  on  board  the  boat 
approached  closer  to  where  we  sat.  They  stood  there  as  if  glued 
to  the  deck.  She  sang,  "I  Love  the  Merry  Sunshine:  It  Makes 
Mv  Heart  Feel  Gay."  \Yhen  she  had  finished  singing  the  peo- 
ple applauded.  Her  second  song  was.  "There's  Nae  Room  But 
for  Twa,  Tom."  When  she  had  finished  the  captain  lifted  her 
up  and  kissed  her.  saying.  "You're  my  royal  guest  for  the  day." 
Her  gave  her  back  to  the  gentleman  who  said  she  was  his  love. 

When  we  reached  Sandy  Hook  storm  clouds  came  up:  peals 
of  thunder  were  heard  in  the  distance:  in  half  an  hour  we  were 
in  the  midst  of  a  terrific  storm. 

The  little  girl's  wish  was  fulfilled.  She  commenced  to  sing 
a  weird  melody  in  some  foreign  tongue  that  I  did  not  under- 
stand. As  the  storm  increased  her  music  increased  in  power: 
some  of  the  people  said,  "The  little  creature  is  a  witch  :  see  how 
she  revels  in  the  thunder  ;m<l  lightning."  It  was  almost  impos- 
sible for  her  guardian  to  keep  her  in  the  cabin.  The  rain  com- 
menced to  pour  in  torretits.  While  her  guardian  turned  to  con- 


422         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

verse  with  an  elderly  lady  present,  the  Little  One  escaped  from 
his  grasp  and  rushed  out  onto  the  deck.  She  threw  her  bonnet 
into  the  wind,  tore  down  her  hair,  which  the  breeze  caught  and 
blew  around  her.  She  stood  there  like  some  little  phantom  in 
the  storm,  laughing  with  all  the  power  that  was  in  her  nature. 
Her  guardian  rushed  out  of  the  cabin,  picked  her  up  and  brought 
her  back  to  safety.  He  said,  "Oh  darling,  darling,  why  did  you 
do  that?  Do  you  want  to  break  my  heart?"  She  looked  up  into 
his  face  and  laughed,  saying,  "I  love  the  storm  and  wish  the 
wind  had  carried  me  away  to  the  home  of  the  spirits.  I  live  in 
dread  of  my  future.  You  have  called  me  back  and  now  I  must 
finish  my  earth  work."  She  put  her  little  hands  inside  of  his 
vest  and  went  to  sleep.  The  other  gentleman  placed  a  white  silk 
handkerchief  over  her  face  to  keep  the  people  from  gazing  at  it. 
Her  hair  hung  down  all  around  her.  It  was  longer  than  she  was 
tall. 

Some  of  the  people  near  by  said,  "What  a  strange  little  be- 
ing that  is.  Did  you  notice  how  she  laughed  with  an  unearthly 
laugh  during  the  storm  ?  I  wonder  who  she  can  be." 

The  captain  came  to  see  how  it  fared  with  the  Little  One. 
He  said,  from  the  pilot  house,  he  saw  her  out  on  the  deck  in  the 
storm.  A  lady  touched  him  on  the  arm  and  said,  "Captain,  who 
is  that  child  that  dare  brave  such  a  storm  and  laugh  as  she  did? 
She  seemed  to  be  possessed  by  some  storm  demon."  He  looked 
at  the  lady,  laughed,  and  said,  "This  child,  madam,  is  a  little 
actor.  She  impersonates  both  male  and  female  characters  in 
Barnum's  Museum."  That  made  the  people  laugh.  Then  the 
captain  said,  "This  is  the  little  'Dashing  Blanchard."  "  Then  he 
addressed  the  gentleman,  saying,  "Warren,  bring  her  in  and  lay 
her  on  mv  bed  and  remove  her  outside  clothing,  for  I  see  it  is 
wet.  Let  me  have  her;  you  are  tired  after  the  excitement."  He 
placed  her  in  the  captain's  arms,  and  as  he  carried  her  toward 
his  stateroom  many  of  the  people  felt  of  her  long  dark  brown 
hair  that  fell  from  her  head.  We  did  not  see  her  again  until  the 
boat  arrived  at  the  dock  in  Xew  York  City.  A  carriage  was 
called,  the  two  gentlemen,  the  Little  One  and  the  captain  en- 
tered the  carriage,  which  drove  off. 

About  eight  years  afterward  T  received  an  invitation  to  at- 
tend a  reception  given  at  Doctor  Kellog's  residence.  It  was  what 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  423 

you  call  an  afternoon  reception.  When  I  had  reached  the  Doc- 
tor's residence  on  Franklin  street,  near  Broadway,  I  discovered 
many  guests  had  preceded  me.  My  name  was  announced ;  I  en- 
tered the  parlor,  taking  a  seat  near  the  window.  Looking  around 
I  discovered  that  gentleman  present  who  claimed  to  be  the  guar- 
dian of  the  little  girl  who  sang  on  the  boat.  While  looking  at 
him  very  intently  he  smiled ;  leaving  his  chair  he  approached  me, 
saying,  "Lady,  did  I  not  meet  you  on  board  of  a  boat  some  eight 
years  ago  while  sailing  down  the  bay?"  I  laughed  and  said, 
"You  are  the  guardian  of  that  little  girl  who  sang  so  powerful. 
I  do  not  see  her  here."  He  laughed  and  said,  "I  have  had  her 
transformed  into  a  boy  now.  He  will  be  here  after  awhile.  He 
is  in  some  other  part  of  the  house  talking  to  some  of  the  family." 
After  awhile,  I  should  think  in  about  half  an  hour,  I  saw  a  large, 
portly,  military  looking  man  enter  the  parlor,  dressed  in  a  gen- 
eral's uniform,  holding  by  the  hand  a  little  boy,  who  was  dressed 
in  a  black  silk  velvet  garment  that  looked  like  an  artist's  blouse, 
belted  in  at  the  waist,  with  a  ruffle  of  lace  around  the  neck,  black 
velvet  knee  pants,  black  silk  stockings,  low  shoes  with  a  strap 
across  the  instep,  a  rosette  and  buckle  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
shoe. 

I  was  introduced  to  the  large,  portly  looking  gentleman  as 
Misse  Estelle.  Mr.  Warren  introduced  him  as  General  Winfield 
Scott  of  the  army. 

The  General  took  a  seat  on  the  sofa ;  the  little  boy  climbed 
up  into  his  lap,  saying.  "I'ncle  Scott,  did  you  bring  me  some 
figs?  Papa  Warren  told  me  you  was  going  to  be  here  today." 
Mr.  Scott  said,  "Xo,  Pet,  I  did  not.  but  will  purchase  you  some 
as  we  return  to  the  hotel."  I  said  to  Mr.  Warren.  "It  was  too 
bad  to  have  all  that  beautiful  hair  cut  off."  Tie  said,  "It  is  not 
out  off.  It  is  down  inside  of  his  blouse.  His  hair  is  one  of  his 
i^reat  features  on  the  stage.  I  want  him  dressed  in  boys'  clothes. 
I  can  take  him  anywhere  with  me  now ;  that  I  could  not  do 
while  dressed  as  a  girl."  I  noticed,  while  we  were  talking,  the 
little  boy  took  the  General's  purse  out  of  his  pocket  and  was 
counting  the  money.  He  said  to  the  General,  "I'ncle  Scott,  you 
are  rich  today.  Where  did  you  make  the  raise?"  The  General 
laughed  and  said.  "I  knew  I  would  meet  you,  so  therefore  I 
rilled  my  purse.  You  know  I'ncle  Scott  has  to  buv  lots  of  things 


424        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

for  his  Little  Pet  before  he  returns  to  West  Point."  Mr.  War- 
ren then  said,  "Come  over  here,  Puss ;  I  want  to  introduce  you 
to  a  lady  whom  we  met  on  an  excursion  over  eight  years  ago, 
while  sailing  down  the  bay,  when  Brother  Meade  was  with  us." 
That  individual,  as  I  learned  afterwards,  was  the  great  general 
of  Gettysburg.  While  we  were  talking  Doctor  Kellogg  came 
to  where  we  were  sitting,  saying  to  the  Little  One,  "Now,  sweet- 
heart, we  would  like  to  have  you  and  your  papa  sing  for  us." 
Mr.  Warren  took  the  little  boy  by  the  hand,  walked  to  where 
the  piano  stood ;  a  gentleman  sitting  at  the  piano  asked  them 
what  they  would  sing.  Mr.  Warren  said,  "We  will  sing,  'The 
Tie  That  Binds  Us.'  "  Mrs.  Kellogg  handed  the  pianist  the  mu- 
sic, and  oh,  what  a  beautiful  piece  of  music  it  was.  I  shall  never 
forget  that  high,  clear  soprano  voice  backed  up  by  that  deep, 
rich  bass  voice.  After  the  applause  subsided,  the  Little  One 
sang  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner,"  all  the  guests  present  joining 
in  the  chorus.  As  they  were  walking  toward  their  seats  a  gen- 
tleman said,  "Little  dear,  won't  you  sing  us  'Coming  Throvigh 
the  Rye?'  ''  The  Little  One  said,  "Oh  yes,  if  you'll  give  me  one 
of  those  little  puppies  that  you've  got  home."  The  gentleman 
said.  "You  shall  have  one."  I  learned  his  name  was  Bayard 
Taylor.  After  he  sang-  "Coming  Through  the  Rye"  Mr.  Taylor 
said.  "Come  here  and  tell  me  what  you've  been  doing  for  the 
last  two  weeks.  You  -know  I  haven't  seen  you  for  two  weeks, 
as  you  were  in  Boston  with  your  papa."  The  little  boy  said, 
"Oh.  I've  been  eating  lots  of  good  things  and  drinking  lots  of 
lemonade.  When  I  grow  to  be  a  big  man  and  have  a  big  stom- 
ach like  Uncle  Scott  I'm  going  to  be  a  soldier."  That  brought 
a  laugh  from  the  guests.  Tie  became  a  soldier  in  the  field  of 
Truth,  minus  the  big  man  and  the  big  stomach. 

Several  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  sang  that  afternoon. 
<  >ne  of  the  Cary  sisters,  whose  name  was  Phoebe,  recited  one  of 
Alice's  poems.  After  that  she  recited  one  of  Longfellow's.  Then 
the  Doctor  said,  "Xow,  ladies  and  gentlemen.  I  will  pull  down 
the  blinds  and  we  will  live  in  a  subdued  light."  After  he  had 
taken  a  seat  in  the  centre  of  the  room  he  said,  "Xow,  Pet,  come 
and  sit  on  my  knee.  Look  around  and  see  what  is  present  here 
for  the  guests."  The  little  boy  went  and  sat  on  Doctor  Kellogg's 
knee.  After  he  bad  remained  quiet  a  little  while  he  said.  "I  want 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  425 

to  sit  on  Uncle  Scott's  lap."  The  Doctor  said,  "General,  I  guess 
you  will  have  to  come  here  and  take  my  place  today."  The 
General  went  to  the  centre  of  the  room,  taking  the  chair  vacated 
by  the  Doctor,  lifted  the  Little  One  to  his  lap. 

After  they  had  sat  there,  I  should  think,  about  ten  minutes, 
loud  raps  came  on  the  wall  and  on  the  piano.  The  keys  com- 
menced to  make  a  sound  and  move  as  if  some  one's  fingers  were 
gliding  over  them.  Then  all  became  quiet.  I  noticed  the  Little 
One's  eyes  had  a  peculiar  expression  in  them.  He  addressed 
Doctor  Kellogg,  saying,  "You're  going  away  from  here.  You 
are  going  to  cross  the  ocean.  You  are  going  back  to  England, 
where  you  came  from.  Now  I'm  in  a  house  that's  all  covered 
with  ivy  on  the  outside.  In  the  room  where  I  am  there's  a  great 
big  coffin  with  a  big  man  lying  in  it.  He's  got  red  hair  and  on 
his  hands  he  has  fingers,  but  no  thumbs."  Mrs.  Kellogg 
screamed  and  said,  "That  is  the  body  of  my  father  lying  in  that 
coffin.  Oh,  your're  a  witch.  I  hate  you.  You  brood  evil  in 
people's  homes."  Then  she  swooned  into  her  husband's  arms. 
She  was  taken  from  the  rooms  to  another  apartment  across  the 
hall,  where  restoratives  were  administered  to  her.  After  awhile 
he  gave  some  tests  to  the  other  guests  present.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  melancholy  influence  pervade  the  whole  apartment  in  which 
we  sat. 

The  guests  were  invited  to  enter  the  dining  room  and  par- 
take of  a  lunch  provided  for  them.  I  heard  Mr.  \Yarren  say,  "I 
shall  not  allow  him,  in  the  future,  to  sit  and  tell  what  he  sees 
for  any  one.  I  wish  that  those  damned  spirits  would  keep  away 
from  him."  General  Scott  said.  "Oh,  Brother  Warren,  don't  feel 
so  bad  :  that  is  something  that  will  never  come  to  pass.  He  is  an 
instrument  for  the  spirits  and  they  will  always  use  him.  Mark 
what  I  say,  I  think  it  was  an  insult  for  that  woman  to  tell  him 
that  she  hated  him.  and  that  he  always  brooded  evil  in  people's 
homes.  They  must  always  expect  the  truth  when  they  ask  him 
to  go  into  the  clairvoyant  state  and  tell  what  he  sees." 

I  heard  afterward  that  Mrs.  Kellogg  received  a  letter  in- 
forming her  of  her  father's  death  :  six  months  afterward  they 
sailed  for  England,  as  her  father  had  left  an  estate  that  had  to 
be  divided  among  the  heirs.  I  think  they  remained  in  England. 
as  1  never  learned  that  thev  returned  to  America. 


426        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

One  day  I  made  a  visit  to  the  Fox  sisters,  who  were  noted 
for  producing  spiritual  raps.  I  met  there  an  English  lady  whose 
name  was  Emma  Hardinge.  While  conversing  with  each  other, 
I  asked  her  the  question,  "Do  you  really  believe  that  spirits  re- 
turn and  produce  those  raps?"  She  said,  "Most  assuredly  I  do. 
Spiritualism  to  me  is  not  a  belief.  It  is  a  fact  demonstrated  by 
those  alphabetical  raps."  Just  then  the  raps  came  on  the  table. 
They  spelled  out  the  name  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Danforth  Kellogg. 
"I  wish  the  lady  present  to  do  me  a  favor.  Go  to  the  little 
'Dashing  Blanchard.'  Tell  him  I  return  through  this  channel  to 
beg  his  pardon  for  what  I  said  in  our  house  on  Franklin  street. 
I  do  not  hate  him  now,  but  love  him  with  my  whole  soul.  He 
brought  to  our  home  a  new  light  that  I  did  not  understand 
through  my  church  prejudice.  I  thought  he  was  a  fiend,  incar- 
nated in  a  child's  body.  When  we  returned  to  England,  we  in- 
vestigated spiritualism,  found  it  to  be  superior  to  all  creeds.  I 
love  him  now  and  wish  I  could  recall  those  words,  'I  hate  you.' 
A  friend  that  loves  Truth." 

I  called  at  the  New  York  Hotel  and  was  received  kindly  by 
Mr.  Warren  and  Little  Justin.  I  delivered  my  message  and 
after  I  had  done  so  Mr.  Warren  said,  "Oh  God,  I  wish  they 
would  not  follow  him  so.  I  am  afraid  those  spirits  will  weaken 
his  mind.  If  I  thought  that  they  would  unbalance  his  mind,  I 
would  kill  him  and  myself  now."  I  said,  "Do  not  feel  so  bad 
about  it,  Mr.  Warren.  I  think  there  is  a  higher  guide  in  it  all 
than  we  understand." 

Just  then  I  saw  that  far-away  look  come  into  Justin's  eyes. 
He  placed  his  hand  in  mine,  saying,  "Lady,  your  father's  brother 
has  passed  away  in  Australia,  that  far  off  land,  and  has  left  you 
heir  to  his  property."  I  said,  "That  is  a  mistake.  He  died  twenty 
years  ago  in  Australia,  a  poor  man."  Justin  laughed  and  said, 
"He  tells  me  an  individual  passed  over  to  spirit  life  from  the 
poor  house  in  Melbourne.  'They  attached  my  initials  to  his.  his 
last  name  being  the  same  as  mine.  At  that  time  I  was  very  ig- 
norant and  could  not  read  a  newspaper.  My  spirit  has  been 
attracted  to  you  and  this  is  the  first  opportunity  that  I  have  had 
to  reach  you.  Xow  through  this  instrument  I  communicate  my 
wish.  I  want  you  to  write  to  Melbourne  and  you  will  find  what 
I  have  said  is  true.'  "  I  wrote  to  the  address  he  gave  me,  re- 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  427 

ceiving  an  answer  which  informed  me  I  was  left  the  heir  to  some 
property  in  Melbourne. 

Before  I  sailed  for  Australia,  I  met  Mr.  Warren  quite  fre- 
quently. I  gave  to  him  all  the  love  that  a  woman  can  give  to 
the  man  she  adores.  It  was  my  soul's  love,  that  is  why  I  speak 
of  it  here.  I  became  a  mother  after  I  reached  Australia.  No 
man  performed  the  rites  of  marriage  over  us.  I  know  many 
of  the  female  prudes  will  pretend  to  blush  when  they  read  my 
confession,  but  the  paint  and  powder  that  has  become  so  fash- 
ionable now  will  assist  them  to  hide  that  hypocritical  blush.  I 
never  was  a  slave  to  fashion  or  gilded  society.  I  was  a  woman 
who  loved  Truth,  yet  I  can  hear  the  hypocrites  in  life  say,  "She 
was  not  a  moral  woman."  I  say,  I  was  a  moral  woman,  for  I 
never  gave  that  love  to  another  soul  living  in  a  physical  body. 
I  have  a  purer  spirit  today  than  she  that  married  for  wealth  or 
position  in  society.  My  conscience  does  not  have  to  lash  me 
for  bringing  criminals  into  the  world.  I  was  not  and  am  not  a 
hypocrite — one  who  pledges  to  love  and  adore  her  male  part- 
ner through  life  while  her  heart  belongs  to  another  man.  Mr. 
Warren  told  me  he  could  not  marry  me.  Xo  one  could  fill  the 
place  of  Little  Justin,  while  he  lived.  Perhaps  if  Little  Justin 
passed  awray,  then  he  would  give  me  his  name.  It  was  decreed 
otherwise.  He  passed  away  before  Justin.  I  lived  true  to  his 
memory  and  pure  to  my  soul  that  went  out  in  love  to  him.  In 
spirit  life  his  spirit  mate  is  Julia  Hawthorne — when  living  in 
the  physical  body  she  was  known  as  the  "Blind  Singer." 

I  gave  birth  to  my  child  in  Australia.  I  settled  up  my  bus- 
iness matters  and  came  back  to  the  United  States  a  rich  woman. 
A  number  of  years  afterward,  my  son  and  I  traveled  through 
many  lands  and  learned  to  speak  their  languages. 

I  abhor  and  detest  immorality.  The  curse  that  hung  over 
spiritualism  so  many  years  called  "Free  Love,"  when  its  real 
name  was  free  lust."  When  T  heard  spiritualists  talk  about  their 
affinities,  it  became  disgusting  to  me.  as  their  practices  were  low 
and  debasing.  Thank  God  and  the  angels,  spiritualism  has  risen 
above  all  such.  Now  it  stands  on  a  pure  platform  with  the  spirit 
of  Christ  for  a  background.  Before  I  passed  from  my  physical 
body  some  of  the  most  beautiful,  devout  and  moral  women  and 
men  became  my  companions.  The}'  were  all  true  spiritualists. 


428          THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

They  believed  in  God,  Christ  and  communicating  spirits. 

The  next  time  I  met  Justin  was  in  Xew  Orleans.  He  and 
Mr.  "Warren  were  there  with  a  company  called  the  Broadway 
Company.  They  made  money  wrhile  there.  Before  leaving  the 
city  Justin  was  presented  with  a  diamond  ring  from  his  many 
friends  in  Xew  Orleans.  I  was  there  as  a  teacher,  for  a  little 
while,  in  the  interest  of  the  black  race. 

The  next  time  I  met  him,  I  was  a  guest  at  Col.  Case's  home. 
During  my  visit  at  the  Case  home  in  Philadelphia,  Justin  and  a 
Mrs.  Suydam  and  her  son  William,  called  one  afternoon.  They 
had  only  been  there  about  ten  minutes,  when  the  door  bell  rang. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Emma  Hardinge  Brittan  were  announced.  Doctor 
Brittan  came  in  laughing,  saying,  "Emma  and  I  are  western 
Hoosiers  now.  \Ye  have  been  away  out  in  Nebraska.  If  I  should 
act  in  an}'  way  wild,  lay  it  to  my  cowboy  ability,"  which  was 
the  cause  of  quite  a  laugh.  Brother,  we  had  a  grand  spiritual 
feast  that  afternoon.  Our  enjoyment  was  checked  for  a  few 
minutes  by  the  ringing  of  the  door  bell.  Mr.  Case  opened  the 
hall  door,  when  in  walked  Harry  Gordon  and  another  gentle- 
man whose  name  I  cannot  recall  now,  but  I  think  it  was  Rich- 
ards. He  read  to  the  guests  present  a  beautiful  poem  that  one 
of  his  guides  had  given  him.  That  guide  claimed  to  be  the  father 
of  Madam  Anna  Bishop,  the  opera  singer,  an  English  lady  who 
sang  in  America  on  several  occasions  and  was  a  great  friend  of 
Little  Justin. 

The  next  time  I  saw  Little  Justin  he  was  one  of  several 
guests  visiting  me  at  mv  home  in  Atlantic  City,  Xew  Jersey.  I 
wanted  him  to  come  to  my  home  and  take  a  rest.  He  did  so,  and 
remained  with  me  a  month.  While  he  was  there  1  gave  a  big 
reception  and  invited  many  of  my  friends  from  Xew  York  and 
Philadelphia.  We  had  a  grand  spiritual  feast. 

The  next  time  I  met  him  was  at  the  \\  hite  Mountains.  There 
also  we  had  a  happy  time.  \Yherever  he  went  he  gave  evidence 
of  spirit  return. 

I  was  in  Washington  when  he  was  shot  at  on  the  stage. 
Mr.  Xagle,  the  actor,  walked  down  to  the  footlights,  saying, 
"You  fool,  do  you  not  know  this  individual  bears  a  charmed  life? 
The  spirit  world  has  work  for  him  to  do  and  it  must  be  finished 
before  his  spirit  can  pass  from  that  physical  body.  The  motive 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  429 

that  you  had  in  shooting  at  this  individual  must  have  been 
caused  by  jealousy.  I  know  in  those  eyes  lies  a  fascination  and 
men  become  their  victim.  \Vliy,  I  cannot  tell  you,  and  I  am  one 
of  the  victims."  Then  the  play  went  on. 

A  Mrs.  Sarah  Mettler  tells  me,  in  spirit  life,  she  mixed  poi- 
son in  a  glass  of  lemonade.  She  gave  it  to  Justin  to  drink,  think- 
ing his  time  would  be  short  in  the  physical  body.  She  was  in 
love  with  Mr.  Warren  and  did  not  understand  that  there  were 
guides  connected  with  Justin  that  brought  a  condition  to  bear, 
whereby  he  vomited  and  threw  up  the  poison  with  the  contents 
of  his  stomach. 

Ann  Eliza  Grovesnor  tells  me,  in  spirit  life,  she  poisoned 
candy,  and  made  it  a  present  to  Justin.  When  she  presented  it 
to  him  it  fell  from  his  hands.  A  dog  that  was  in  the  room  ate 
some  of  the  candy;  he  died  that  night  in  convulsions.  Fortu- 
nately for  Justin,  he  never  was  fond  of  candy  and  had  not  par- 
taken of  any  of  it.  After  the  dog  died  in  convulsions,  Mr.  \\  ar- 
ren threw  the  box  of  candy  into  the  grate  and  it  was  burned. 
She  professed  to  be  worked  up  over  the  dog.  She  took  it  upon 
her  lap.  poured  oil  down  its  throat,  rubbing  it  as  she  said,  pro- 
fessing to  bring  it  back  to  health.  Mr.  Warren  asked  her,  when 
he  saw  she  felt  so  badly,  where  she  had  purchased  the  candy. 
She  said,  "While  on  the  cars  a  young  man  came  through  selling 
the  candy.  I  thought  the  boxes  looked  so  pretty  I  bought  one 
for  Puss."  So  she  failed  in  that  attempt  to  poison  him.  She 
tells  me  afterward  she  invited  Justin  to  come  to  her  room  in  the 
hotel.  Three  other  ladies  and  President  liuchanan  were  pres- 
ent on  that  occasion.  She  bad  her  maid  prepare  some  choco- 
late. After  the  chocolate  was  poured  in  the  cups  by  the  maid 
she  requested  the  maid  to  go  to  her  room  and  get  her  fan.  Then 
she  dropped  a  powder  into  a  cup  that  she  intended  to  hand  to 
Justin.  The  maid  returned  and  carried  the  tray  into  the  recep- 
tion room  and  placed  it  on  a  table;  she  picked  up  that  cup  and 
saucer  while  the  maid  was  passing  the  others  around  on  china 
plates.  As  she  was  about  to  band  the  cup  and  saucer  to  Justin, 
her  arm  was  struck  a  blow  by  some  invisible  person.  The  cup 
fell  to  the  floor  and  broke  in  pieces,  while  the  chocolate  wa> 
spattered  over  the  carpet.  She  said  she  knew  her  face  must 
have  burned,  but  there  was  a  devil  in  her  heart  and  she  was  go- 


430         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

ing  to  have  Mr.  Warren  for  a  husband  if  she  went  to  the  gal- 
lows for  it.  If  Justin  had  drunk  the  chocolate  and  died  from  the 
effects  she  intended  to  lay  all  the  blame  upon  the  maid  and  de- 
clare to  the  guests  that  the  maid  had  that  cup  prepared  for  her, 
that  she  had  lived  in  dread  of  her  and  did  not  dare  to  send  her 
away,  as  she  was  afraid  that  she  would  take  some  means  to  put 
her  out  of  the  way.  "She  holds  a  spell  over  me  and  I  cannot 
release  myself  from  it." 

The  next  attempt  she  made  she  poisoned  flowers  and  was  about 
to  send  them  to  Justin's  dressing  room  when  her  husband  en- 
tered the  room.  Seeing  the  beautiful  flowers,  he  went  to  smell 
of  them.  She  stepped  forward,  trying  to  prevent  him  from  smell- 
ing the  flowers.  She  was  too  late — he  had  smelled  of  the  flow- 
ers, inhaled  the  poison  through  the  nostrils,  became  dizzy  and 
fell  to  the  floor.  She  summoned  her  maid  to  go  for  a  doctor, 
who  lived  two  miles  away,  (she  said  his  name  was  Doctor  Liv- 
ingston.) She  packed  all  her  wardrobe  into  two  trunks  as  fast 
as  she  could,  then  dragged  the  body  of  her  husband  into  the 
toilet  room.  After  that  she  rang  the  bell:  it  was  answered  by 
the  bell  boy  of  the  hotel.  She  told  him  to  get  her  a  carriage 
quick  as  possible  and  to  send  the  porter  to  carry  her  trunks  down, 
as  she  had  to  take  the  next  train  for  Xew  York.  When  she  ar- 
rived at  the  depot  she  purchased  a  ticket  for  Chicago  by  the  Bal- 
timore &  Ohio  route.  She  was  killed  in  an  accident,  when  the 
train  was  derailed  at  Harper's  Ferry.  That  is  the  tale  she  tells 
me  in  spirit  life.  She  says,  after  she  was  in  spirit  life  and  her 
conscience  became  a  living  hell,  the  spirit  of  her  husband  ap- 
proached her  with  forgiveness  in  his  soul.  She  said  she  had  to 
pay  the  penalty  just  the  same.  It  was  not  only  the  crime  of  his 
passing  out  of  his  body,  but  it  was  the  crime  that  she  had  placed 
the  poison  there,  with  her  own  hands,  for  another  victim,  should 
he  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  received  the  flowers.  He 
really  lived  a  charmed  life.  I  will  now  withdraw  and  we  will 
continue  at  another  time. 

Friday.  May  27,  1904. 

While  stopping  at  Long  Branch,  Xew  Jersey.  T  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  Mrs.  Fannie  Moore,  a  widow  lady,  and  her  in- 
valid sister,  a  Miss  Ringgold.  1  noticed  Mrs.  Moore's  devotion 
toward  her  invalid  sister  was  something1  beautiful  to  behold.  She 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  431 

did  it  in  such  a  quiet,  gentle  way  that  it  appealed  to  me  and, 
sometimes,  I  would  relieve  her  and  allow  her  to  go  and  rest. 
The  invalid  sister  was  such  a  spiritual  girl  that  I  fell  in  love 
with  her.  One  day  she  said  to  me,  "Estelle,  dear,  do  you  believe 
in  God?"  I  said,  "Most  assuredly  I  do."  She  said,  "I  cannot 
believe  he  is  a  personality.  When  I  am  sitting  by  the  window 
and  look  out  by  the  wild  waves  of  the  ocean  1  see,  as  it  were,  a 
being  floating  toward  me.  It  looks  just  like  our  mother.  It 
comes  in  at  the  window  and  hovers  around  me.  Then  I  get  such 
a  peaceful  sleep.  Oh.  I  love  to  see  it  coming.  I  tell  sister  Fan- 
nie of  it.  She  says  she  cannot  see  it."  I  told  her  that  was  the 
spirit  of  her  mother,  who  came  to  comfort  her  and  give  her  that 
peaceful  rest  she  required  by  putting  her  into  a  deep  sleep.  She 
said,  "Do  you  think  God  and  Jesus  are  one?"  I  said,  "No,  I  do 
not.  God  is  beyond  our  comprehension.  Jesus  was  a  spirit  that 
lived  in  a  physical  body,  a  great  moral  character  born  of  a  di- 
vine mother."  She  clapped  her  hands  and  said,  "Oh,  you  have 
made  me  so  happy.  Kiss  me.  Estelle  dear,  and  let  me  lay  my 
hand  on  your  breast.  You  have  given  me  so  much  comfort.  My 
mind  was  always  in  a  quandary  about  God  and  Jesus."  All  of  a 
sudden  she  sat  straight  up.  pointing  toward  the  ocean  and  said, 
"Do  you  not  see  it  coming?"  I  looked  and  beheld  a  beautiful 
spirit  approaching  the  window.  It  entered  the  room,  smiled, 
went  to  the  bed.  smoothed  out  the  clothes,  then  pantomimed  for 
me  to  assist  her  child  to  the  bed.  I  did  so,  laid  her  down  care- 
fully, all  the  time  watching  the  spirit.  It  floated  to  the  other 
side  of  the  bed.  Then  it  motioned  for  me  to  hold  one  of  her 
child's  hands  while  she  held  the  other  one  and,  with  the  hand 
that  was  disengaged,  she  made  passes  over  her  child's  body. 
Agnes  went  into  a  dee])  sleep,  breathing  very  hard  ;  so  much  so 
that  it  frightened  me.  The  spirit,  seeing  my  condition,  laughed 
and  spoke  for  the  first  time.  She  said,  "When  she  comes  out 
of  this  sleep,  vou  will  find  her  much  stronger.  She  will  have  a 
desire  to  go  down  to  the  beach.  1  hope  you  and  Fannie  will  take 
her.  She  is  on  the  mend  now.  Three  weeks  from  today  Fannie 
can  return  with  Agnes  to  her  St.  Louis  home."  She  floated  over 
to  where  1  sat.  placed  her  arms  around  me  and  kissed  me.  say- 
ing. "The  angels  will  bless  vou."  then  tloatecl  out  of  the  window. 
In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  after  what  had  taken  place  Mrs. 


432         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Moore  entered,  saying",  "I've  had  such  a  good  sleep,  a  good  bath 
and  now  I  ( feel  so  refreshed."  She  looked  at  the  bed  and  said, 
"Dear  sister  is  sleeping.  Thank  God,  it  will  rest  her  weary 
body.  Estelle,  dear,  do  you  think  I  will  ever  be  able  to  take  her 
back  to  St.  Louis?"  I  said,  "Yes  indeed,  Fannie;  your  mother 
has  been  here."  She  said,  "My  mother?"  I  said,  "Yes  indeed, 
and  she  has  given  a  treatment.  Three  weeks  from  today,  she 
told  me,  you  can  take  her  back  to  St.  Louis."  She  clapped  her 
hands  with  joy  and  said,  "Estelle  dear,  if  it  only  can  be  true." 
I  said,  "It  will  be  true  ;  a  beautiful  spirit  like  that  would  not 
lie."  "Then  you  have  seen  her?"  she  said.  I  said,  "Yes.''  "Oh, 
if  I  could  only  see  her,"  she  said,  "I  think  it  would  make  me  a 
happy  woman."  Just  then  it  seemed  as  if  a  strong  breeze  came 
into  the  room  through  the  window.  In  a  few  minutes,  how  long 
I  could  not  tell,  there  stood  the  spirits  of  her  mother  and  her 
father.  She  placed  her  hand  on  top  of  her  head,  crying  out 
aloud,  ''Glory  to  God,  I  see  them,"  and  with  one  wild  scream 
she  said.  "Father  and  mother  you  live,  you  live,"  then  fell  at 
their  feet  on  the  floor. 

The  spirits  glided  to  the  bed,  each  one  held  a  hand  of  their 
child  and  smiled  at  me  ;  in  about  ten  minutes  they  glided  from 
the  room  out  through  the  window.  Mrs.  Moore  arose  from  the 
floor  and  looked  at  me  with  joy  in  her  eyes,  saying,  "Sister 
Estelle,  I  am  a  happy  woman  now  and  the  whole  world  could 
not  take  that  knowledge  from  me.  I  have  seen  my  father  and 
mother  and  now  I  will  devote  my  life  to  the  spiritual  philos- 
ophy." 

In  three  weeks  they  returned  to  St.  Louis,  begging  me  to 
accompany  them  ;  finally  their  wishes  prevailed  and  I  did  so. 
\\hile  at  their  home  in  St.  Louis  I  saw  in  the  morning  news- 
paper that  the  1 '>  road  way  Company  was  coming  to  St.  Louis  to 
play  a  two  weeks'  engagement,  managed  by  Mr.  Warren.  I 
jumped  up.  clapped  my  hands  and  laughed  aloud.  Agnes  came 
from  the  adjoining  room,  saying,  "Estelle  dear,  what  is  the  mat- 
ter?" 1  threw  my  arms  around  her,  hugged  and  kissed  her,  tell- 
ing her  I  was  going  to  see  dear  Little  I'uss  again.  "Oh  Agnes, 
if  you  onlv  knew  how  my  heart  goes  out  to  that  Little  One." 
She  said.  "\Vho  is  I'uss:'"  T  told  her  he  was  the  star  of  the 
Broadway  Company  that  was  coming  to  St.  Louis  for  two  weeks. 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  433 

"He  is  called  the  'Dashing  Blanchard,'  Agnes  dear.  He  is  a 
freak  in  nature  and  most  of  the  people  in  Europe  and  America 
that  have  beheld  his  acting  declare  it  is  a  girl.  He  sings  in  a 
high  soprano  voice  and  has  a  beautiful  female  form.  Oh,  you 
will  think  he  is  pretty  when  you  see  him — and  such  eyes.  Men 
fall  in  love  with  them.  Dear,  he  is  of  both  natures ;  the  female 
holds  the  prominent  part  of  his  anatomy.  \Ye  must  have  him 
here  in  this  house  so  that  you  and  Fannie  can  talk  with  him." 

The  company  came  as  advertised.  On  the  first  night  Mrs. 
Moore,  Miss  Ringgold  and  myself  occupied  a  box  on  the  left  of 
the  stage.  The  play  was  Cinderella.  Little  Puss  played  Cin- 
derella, Fannie  Davenport  played  the  Prince,  a  Frenchman  by 
the  name  of  Bascom,  who  was  a  great  baritone  singer,  played 
the  Baron.  Mrs.  Charles  and  a  Miss  Sarah  Devlin  played  the 
old  maid  sisters.  In  the  ballroom  scene  I  presented  Little  Jus- 
tin with  a  basket  of  flowers.  As  she  stood  in  front  of  the  box  I 
leaned  over,  presenting  the  basket  of  flowers.  She  looked  at  me, 
gave  a  scream  and  said,  "Oh,  it  is  Estelle."  In  the  basket  of 
flowers  I  placed  a  note  inviting  the  principal  members  of  the 
company  to  attend  a  reception  at  Mrs.  Moore's  residence  on 
Washington  Avenue.  In  the  note  I  said,  "Warren  Chase  and 
Charles  Foster  will  be  there." 

After  the  performance  they  came  in  three  carriages,  and  you 
can  imagine  how  Little  Justin  and  I  hugged  each  other.  I  gave 
to  Mr.  Warren  and  the  other  members  of  the  company  a  cordial 
greeting.  After  we  had  all  dined  we  adjourned  to  the  parlor. 
Little  Puss  sat  on  a  sofa  and  before  I  had  time  to  sit  alongside 
of  him  Charles  Foster  sat  on  one  side  and  Warren  Chase  on  the 
other.  There  was  some  fine  singing  by  the  company  and  sev- 
eral little  speeches  made.  Mr.  Warren,  as  usual,  was  the  most 
brilliant  speaker  of  the  occasion.  Fannie  Davenport  said,  "Look 
there  at  those  three  people  on  the  sofa — they  have  gone  to 
sleep."  All  of  a  sudden  we  heard  a  coarse,  rough  voice  speak 
as  if  it  came  from  the  ceiling  of  the  room  right  over  the  chan- 
delier; it  said.  "I  am  Peter  AlsakofF.  a  Russian  who  was  drowned 
in  the  Mississippi.  I  was  pushed  overboard  by  a  man  who  fell 
in  love  with  my  wife.  You  will  find  that  same  wife  in  a  brothel 
house  in  Memphis.  Term.  She  goes  by  the  name  of  Lucy  Lar- 
kum."  After  the  voice  had  ceased  speaking  a  laugh  rang  out 


434         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

through  the  parlor,  just  such  a  laugh  as  Justin  gives  when  he  is 
transformed — or  I  should  say  she  is  transformed — from  a  drudge 
in  the  kitchen  to  a  princess  ready  to  go  to  the  ball.  It  was  a 
marvelous  demonstration  of  spirit  power.  Fannie  Davenport 
laughed  and  said,  "Old  Nick  is  after  Puss.  I  expect  he  owns 
those  others  already,"  meaning  Foster  and  Chase,  which  made 
us  all  laugh.  Just  then  another  voice  was  heard.  It  said.  "I 
am  he  that  was  ;  I  am  he  that  is.  I  am  he  that  always  shall  be 
and  my  cognomen  is  Old  Lucifer,  at  your  service."  Fannie  Dav- 
enport said,  "Didn't  I  tell  you  old  Nick  was  after  them?"  which 
caused  another  laugh.  While  those  voices  spoke  independently 
the  three  individuals  sitting  on  the  sofa  seemed  to  be  in  a  deep 
trance.  Agnes  Ringgold  said,  "If  we  all  sing  a  hymn  I  think 
they  will  all  come  out  of  that  condition."  We  sang  "Xearer,  My 
God,  to  Thee."  I  noticed  while  we  were  singing  they  com- 
menced to  breathe  hard  and  seemed  to  be  laboring  under  some 
difficulty  to  get  their  breath.  (Rap.)  A  voice  said  to  me  in  a 
quiet  way,  "Estelle,  go  and  pass  your  hands  over  them  —  lay 
your  hand  on  each  one's  head  and  they  will  come  out  of  that 
condition."  I  did  so  and  finally  they  came  back  to  conscious- 
ness, or  more  properly  speaking,  to  their  normal  condition.  Lit- 
tle Puss  said,  "Oh.  I  had  such  a  funny  dream  ;  a  great,  big, 
coarse,  rough  looking  man,  with  the  water  dropping  from  his 
clothes  (rap)  said  to  me,  'If  you  don't  laugh  and  laugh  loud, 
I'll  choke  the  life  out  of  yon.'  I  became  afraid  of  him  and  tried 
to  laugh.".  Fanny  Davenport  said.  "I  think  you  accomplished  it, 
the  way  it  sounded  to  us.  Puss.  ]  always  thought  you  were  in 
league  with  the  old  man  down  below  ;  now  1  believe  it.  Look 
out,  brother  Warren,  or  some  night  there  will  come  a  brimstone 
flame  and  carry  Puss  off,"  which  caused  another  big  laugh. 
Then  we  had  some  more  singing.  After  that  a  duet  by  Mr.  War- 
ren and  Little  Puss.  The  company  bade  us  good  night  and  re- 
turned to  the  hotel. 

I  kept  Little  Puss  with  me.  as  I  had  so  many  questions  to 
ask.  Their  engagement  turned  out  a  successful  one,  which 
pleased  Mr.  Warren.  As  1  bade  him  good  bye  at  the  depot,  as 
they  were  about  to  take  the  cars  for  Cincinnati,  he  said, 
"Estelle,  I  leave  St.  Louis  with  a  fat  pocket  book.  My  Little 
One  has  made  so  manv  friends  here  I  was  afraid  I  would  lose 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  435 

him."  Little  Puss  laughed  and  said,  "Oh  no,  papa,  I  love  no 
one  in  the  world  like  you.  You  have  made  me  so  happy.  Oh, 
Estelle  dear,  before  papa  Warren  found  me  I  suffered  so  much 
from  bad  treatment  and  when  I  was  a  wee  little  thing  I  used  to 
go  to  bed  hungry."  Mr.  Warren  stooped  down  and  kissed  him, 
saying  at  the  same  time,  "Little  Puss,  you  belong  to  papa  War-r 
ren  now,  and  I  would  like  to  see  the  man  or  woman  who  would 
dare  speak  to  you  unkindly  or  look  at  you  cross."  We  parted, 
they  taking  the  cars  for  Cincinnati  and  I  returning  to  Mrs. 
Moore's  home  with  a  heavy  heart.  I  loved  that  man  so,  but 
could  not  win  him.  I  would  not  do  it  in  any  other  way  only 
through  my  love  for  him. 

Mrs.  Moore,  or  I  should  say  sister  Fannie,  sister  Agnes 
and  myself  engaged  passage  on  a  boat  for  Memphis,  Tenn.  I 
had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Bishop  Watson  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  In  that  letter  Doctor  Van  Ame  said,  "Brother  Watson, 
be  kind  to  sister  Estelle ;  she  is  one  of  the  dear  friends  of  our 
family."  We  found  Mr.  Watson  a  genial  man  and  his  family 
received  us  with  gracious  courtesy.  On  two  occasions  at  Mr. 
Watson's  home  we  witnessed  some  wonderful  demonstrations 
of  spirit  power.  While  in  Memphis  we  heard  Doctor  Peebles 
lecture.  He  spoke  of  his  travels.  I  looked  upon  him  as  a  grand 
man  in  the  spiritual  philosophy.  I  heard  him  lecture  seven  dif- 
ferent times  in  England,  which  would  make  nine  times  in  all. 
The  more  I  heard  him  the  grander  he  seemed  to  appear  to  me. 
In  Memphis  I  met  Mr.  Meyer.  He  did  not  speak  good  English 
then  (rap.)  I  mean  the  Mr.  Meyer  who  lives  in  this  beautiful 
little  valley.  The  people  call  him  now  Doctor  Meyer,  with  two 
letters  attached  to  his  name — M.  D. 

The  next  time  I  met  Little  Justin  was  in  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Muller,  the  artist,  gave  a  reception  to  his  spiritual  friends  at  his 
beautiful  rooms  on  Broad  street.  There  was  present  Thomas 
Scott,  of  railroad  fame  :  a  medium  by  the  name  of  Miss  Bullene, 
Doctor  Van  Ame,  a  Mrs.  Paul,  whom  1  discovered  to  be  a  won- 
derful medium  ;  she  was  so  spiritual  that  I  felt  all  that  she  had 
to  do  was  to  close  her  eyes  and  pass  from  the  physical  body 
into  the  realms  where  pure  and  beautiful  angels  lived.  I  never 
can  forget  that  beautiful  spirit  living  in  a  physical  body. 
Charles  Foster,  who  was  then  s'ivintr  sittings  at  the  Continental 


436         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Hotel,  was  there ;  a  Prof.  Cox  and  wife,  Doctor.  Child,  Doctor 
Pierce  and  a  lady  whose  name  I  think  was  Mrs.  Mifflin,  a  Miss 
Cora  Patterson  and  two  young  ladies  by  the  name  of  Jerome 
from  Princeton,  New  Jersey ;  a  divine,  as  you  call  him  in  the 
physical  body,  who  bore  the  name,  as  I  understood  afterwards, 
of  Joseph  Taylor;  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Xagle,  professional  people; 
Charles  Thorne,  also  a  professional  man;  Mrs.  John  Drew,  Lit- 
tle Justin  and  myself.  We  had  a  glorious  time  that  afternoon. 
I  shall  never  forget  it.  It  remains  with  me  as  a  sweet  memory 
of  those  rooms  and  the  people  present  on  that  occasion.  After 
they  had  finished  singing  a  selection  from  Beethoven  Doctor 
Van  Ame  said,  "Friends,  I  believe  if  Justin  would  sit  on  top  of 
that  round  table  and  we  all  hold  each  other's  hands,  Justin  and 
the  table  will  be  elevated  into  space."  Justin  got  up  onto  the 
table,  crossed  his  legs  like  a  Turk,  then  bowed  to  us  all  in  Ori- 
ental fashion.  AYe  sang  a  hymn,  the  table  commenced  to  rise 
from  the  floor ;  it  was  held  in  space  for  as  much  as  ten  minutes, 
four  feet  above  the  floor. 

That  manifestation  took  place  in  a  bright  light  on  that  after- 
noon. It  was  a  demonstration  that  none  of  them  ever  can  for- 
get. There  was  a  great  power  brought  to  bear  there  by  the 
spirits  living  in  physical  bodies.  A  Mrs.  Banks,  whose  name  I 
forgot  to  mention,  went  to  the  piano  to  entertain  the  guests 
present  with  her  beautiful  execution  on  the  piano.  She  was  a 
grand  performer  and  her  whole  soul  was  imbued  with  music. 
As  she  was  about  to  take  her  seat  on  the  stool  and  was  turn- 
ing it  to  the  height  required,  her  music  was  lifted  from  a  chair 
by  unseen  hands  and  placed  at  the  piano  in  front  of  her.  Her 
playing  was  wonderful  and  the  marvel  of  all  present.  When  it 
came  time  to  bid  the  host  good  day  and  thank  him  for  that  great 
privilege  that  he  had  granted  us  on  that  occasion.  Mr.  Scott  told 
him  his  kindness  would  be  rewarded,  as  the  great  feast  of  Spir- 
itualism which  took  place  there  on  that  afternoon  would  be  re- 
corded in  Heaven.  Mr.  Muller  said,  "Sisters  and  brothers,  let 
us  sing  'Xearer  .My  God.  to  Thee.'  as  a  parting  on  this  occa- 
sion with  our  spirit  friends  only  for  awhile."  We  all  joined  in 
singing  and  friend  and  brother,  1  wish  you  could  have  heard  the 
raps  produced  on  that  occasion  while  we  were  singing.  Mrs. 
Paul  said  after  we  had  finished  singing,  "The  spirits  wanted  to 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  437 

bid  us  a  joyful  adieu.  They  manifested  that  joyful  feeling 
through  the  raps." 

The  last  time  that  I  ever  met  Little  Justin  while  living  in 
a  physical  body  was  in  Omaha,  Neb.  I  was  there  waiting  to 
take  the  train  for  San  Francisco.  A  train  came  from  Ogden ; 
on  board  of  that  train  were  a  number  of  professional  people  and 
as  they  alighted  from  their  palace  car  I  made  the  discovery  that 
one  of  them  was  Little  Justin.  I  walked  toward  his  quickly, 
calling  his  name.  He  looked  in  the  direction  where  the  voice 
came  from  and  with  a  glad  cry  he  said,  "Oh,  it  is  Estelle."  We 
were  clasped  in  each  other's  arms  and  neither  could  speak  for 
several  minutes,  as  we  were  crying  with  joy.  He  was  the  first 
to  speak.  He  said,  "Estelle.  what  are  you  doing  out  here  in 
Omaha,  Nebraska?"  I  told  him  I  was  on  my  way  to  San  Fran- 
cisco and  would  leave  on  the  next  train  and  from  there  I  would 
take  a  steamer  to  Australia,  returning  back  to  the  United  States 
by  the  way  of  England.  My  spirit  passed  from  its  physical  body 
on  board  the  ship  as  I  had  taken  passage  for  England.  I  re- 
turned to  America — the  country  I  love — as  a  spirit  and  showed 
myself  to  Justin  while  he  was  living  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Davis 
on  12th  street,  near  Arch.  Philadelphia. 

As  I  held  his  hand  he  said,  "Estelle,  I  am  returning  from 
an  engagement  that  I  have  just  closed  five  days  ago  at  the  Cal- 
ifornia Theatre  on  Bush  street  San  Francisco."  I  saw  the  tears 
come  in  his  eyes  when  he  said,  "Oh,  Estelle  dear,  I  feel  this  is 
our  last  meeting  while  we  live  in  these  cumbersome  fleshy  bod- 
ies. Some  day  we  will  meet  in  that  beautiful  land  where  we 
will  know  and  understand  each  other  as  God  intends  that  all 
his  creatures  shall  do."  I  took  from  off  my  finger  (rap)  one  of 
my  diamond  rings  and  placed  it  upon  his  thumb,  as  his  fingers 
were  too  small  to  fit  the  ring.  I  said.  "Keep  that  in  memory  of 
me  and  Mr.  Warren,  the  man  who  owned  me  soul  and  body. 
When  you  look  at  it  think  of  the  happy  times  that  you  and  I 
have  had  together  when  we  communed  with  the  spirits.  I  re- 
member and  shall  never  forget  the  happy  times  we  had  at  At- 
lantic City.  Do  yon  remember.  Justin,  when  you  fell  from  the 
boat  into  the  ocean  and  came  up  on  the  other  side  of  the  boat 
laughing,  and  said.  'I  believe  T  am  part  of  the  finny  tribe — I  love 
the  water  so.'  I  reached  out  and  pulled  you  into  the  boat.  Mr. 


438         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Warren  was  talking  to  some  gentlemen  off  at  a  distance  on  the 
beach.  He  ran  down  toward  the  boat,  waded  in  with  his  clothes 
on  and  said,  'What  is  the  matter  with  my  Little  One?'  What 
has  happened?'  He  looked  so  pale  and  his  eyes  had  a  look  in 
them  as  if  he  would  annihilate  us  all  in  the  boat.  He  took  you 
in  his  arms  and  walked  back  through  the  water  to  the  beach. 
I  was  glad  the  boat  was  so  near  the  beach.  Oh  Justin,  if  he 
would  have  done  that  for  me  I  would  have  made  him  a  rich 
man."  Just  then  the  conductor  said,  "All  aboard."  We  hugged 
each  other,  kissed  and  cried.  He  mounted  the  steps  of  the  pal- 
ace car.  He  rushed  to  a  window  and  waved  his  handkerchief 
until  the  cars  crossed  the  bridge  and  disappeared  from  sight. 
I  fainted  and  must  have  fallen  to  the  platform.  When  I  returned 
to  consciousness  I  was  in  the  waiting  room  of  the  depot  and 
they  were  bathing  my  face.  When  the  train  that  was  to  bear 
me  to  Ogden  was  ready  an  elderly  lady  and  the  conductor  as- 
sisted me  into  the  sleeping  car,  for  I  was  weak  from  the  excite- 
ment and  felt  that  we  would  never  meet  again  in  the  body.  But 
here  I  am  today  controlling  his  organ  of  speech  and  I  make  many 
visits  to  Searchlight  Bower  in  the  company  of  other  spirits.  We 
will  continue  at  another  time.  They  say  I  have  held  him  long 
enough. 

Saturday,  May  28,  1904. 

Good  morning,  friend  and  brother.  I  am  a  happy  spirit  this 
morning  to  think  that  I  was  capable  of  being  understood.  lam 
proud  on  this  occasion,  knowing  through  whom  1  speak.  One 
that  I  have  loved  for  many  years,  whose  friendship  shall  never 
cease  to  exist.  Oh,  think  of  it,  brother ;  I  have  used  Justin's 
organ  of  speech  through  which  I  have  conveyed  my  expression 
to  the  reading  public,  relating  facts  that  came  to  pass  in  both 
our  lives.  How  wonderful,  how  wonderful  it  is,  yet  it  is  the  old 
story  told  over  again.  The  power  of  God  is  great  when  ex- 
pressed through  spirit  intelligence.  The  spiritual  intellect  is 
the  monitor  of  life. 

And  now  I  must  thank  you  for  taking  down  my  communi- 
cation. Xo  doubt  it  has  been  a  feeble  attempt  on  that  line,  but 
you  know  and  your  intellect  is  capable  of  understanding  there 
is  a  first  in  everything  and  that  first  has  been  attempted  by  me 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  439 

here  in  Searchlight  Bovver.  If  you  think  it  will  be  any  benefit 
to  your  book  you  are  welcome  to  it.  I  relinquish  all  rights  to  it 
now  with  a  gracious  condescension  on  my  part.  It  is  my  wish 
that  I  shall  speak  a  few  words  concerning  the  spiritual  temple 
in  San  Diego,  California.  How  glad  I  am  to  know  they  have 
accomplished  building  a  home  of  their  own.  There  are  many 
spirits  that  join  me  in  this  happy  expression.  It  is  glorious  to 
know  that  the  Spiritualists  of  San  Diego  do  not  have  to  go  beg- 
ging for  admission  to  dark,  dismal  rooms  such  as  the  one  that 
I  heard  Doctor  Peebles  lecture  in.  I  think  the  name  of  it  is 
Lafayette  Hall,  but  you  know,  brother,  we  must  all  creep  before 
we  can  walk  or  stand  erect,  and  now  the  Spiritualists  of  San 
Diego  are  full  fledged  ministers  of  Truth  and  can  dispense  it  to 
all  comers  in  their  beautiful  hall  or  Temple.  There  was  a  large 
band  of  spirits  present  on  the  day  that  the  ladies  and  gentlemen 
brought  their  power  to  bear  on  the  dedication  of  this  Temple. 
Many  of  us  were  proud  to  see  Dr.  Peebles  there,  the  pilgrim 
that  has  passed  through  many  lands  gathering  up  thought  that 
has  now  become  rich  and  mellow  with  time.  His  expressions 
are  filled  with  the  elixir  of  eternal  life. 

On  that  grand  occasion  as  he  stood  there  dedicating  the 
Temple  to  God  and  ministering  angels,  Leah  Fox  said  to  me, 
"Sister,  Brother  Peebles  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  great  towering 
oak  in  the  forest,  whose  strength  and  power  has  withstood  the 
storms  of  many  ages,  and  now  I  look  upon  him  as  our  giant 
in  the  Spiritual  philosophy  (rap.)  When  Christians  that  hold 
debased  minds  in  their  make-up  think  they  can  send  an  ava- 
lanche of  ridicule  and  scorn  against  that  great  Truth  of  spirit 
power  it  has  no  phase  on  him  whatever.  He  stands  there  as 
solid  as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  old  yet  young.  Old  in  time  as 
the  world  goes,  but  young  and  modern  in  profound  thought. 
There  is  no  slur  cast  upon  our  philosophy  by  creed  crusted 
minds  that  can  harm  it  whatever.  It  is  the  soul  of  Truth.  You 
may  try  to  crush  Truth  but  you  cannot  harm  it.  It  still  arises 
again  for  it  always  existed  and  it  ever  shall  be  there  to  defend 
itself  through  such  prophets  as  Brother  Peebles  and  others.  It 
recalls  to  my  mind  a  verse  spoken  through  the  lips  of  Justin  to 
a  lady  in  Searchlight  Bower.  "In  a  brook  a  pebble  lived.  For  to 
own  it  vou  had  to  wade.  While  vou  held  it  in  vour  hand,  it 


440         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

spoke  of  Eternity  and  man."  Brother  Peebles'  body  is  the  spir- 
itual brook  through  which  courses  the  fluids  of  nature.  His 
soul  is  the  pebble  that  speaks  of  Immortality.  His  life  is  the 
man  that  holds  the  springs  of  nature.  There  is  a  great  innate 
sense  through  it  all  that  can  only  be  conveyed  to  the  mind 
through  the  law  of  Reason.  His  moral  nature  has  always  lived 
in  the  lap  of  Wisdom.  When  he  left  the  hills  of  Vermont  there 
was  a  mantle  of  exhilaration  thrown  around  him  that  clothed  his 
physical  anatomy,  and  as  he  walked  through  life  that  mantle 
developed  and  spread  out  through  mother  earth.  Under  the 
shelter  of  that  mantle  a  great  volume  of  Love  for  the  human 
race  was  developed  there,  the  shades  and  colors  of  the  children 
of  God  harmonized  and  blended  in  his  soul  like  the  shimmering 
shades  of  the  rainbow.  His  voice  was  ever  ready  to  proclaim 
Justice  in  defense  of  any  of  those  colors.  Like  the  oracle  of  old 
that  defense  had  in  it  an  aroma  that  will  perfume  the  depths  of 
misery  in  all  ages.  It  will  brighten  and  beautify  wasted  matter 
that  must  in  time  come  under  spirit  power.  Brother  Peebles  is 
a  florist  that  walks  through  a  garden  of  cultivated  souls,  de- 
veloping and  unfolding  their  inner  knowledge  to  the  children 
of  men,  those  souls  unite  in  saying  he  is  a  monitor  of  elevation 
in  our  spiritual  philosophy.  His  books  are  teachers  providing 
food  for  hungry  souls  searching  after  Truth.  His  words  carry 
with  them  a  liquid  flame  of  fire  that  must  in  time  wake  up  de- 
luded and  superstitious  minds  that  have  been  hibernating  under 
priestcraft.  Xo  power  on  earth  can  stay  that  running  brook 
that  courses  through  his  mind ;  the  lobe  cells  have  been  con- 
stantly catching  thought  out  of  space,  reserving  them  to  become 
modified  through  the  action  and  process  of  his  wonderful  con- 
stitution. Xow  he  is  giving  them  through  his  books  like  dew- 
drops  on  a  violet  that  laughs  with  joy  in  the  sunlight.  As  the 
beams  and  rays  of  that  great  power  come  toward  earth,  then  he 
buckles  on  his  armor  again  to  defend  the  rights  of  our  great 
spiritual  philosophy.  Xo  doubt  to  sleeping  minds,  who  cannot 
as  it  were,  think  for  themselves,  this  may  have  a  harsh  tenor 
through  which  the  tone  is  produced,  but  back  of  it  all  there  is 
a  soft  velvet  touch  of  Love,  discovered  constantly  by  thinking 
minds.  When  they  have  made  that  discovery  then  comes  a 
revelry  of  literature  and  profound  thought  therein  described  on 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  441 

the  pages ;  it  becomes  a  lasting  spiritual  power  to  the  memory, 
which  it  never  can  forget  through  all  the  ages  of  time. 

I  am  pleased  to  see  in  your  library  many  spiritual  works 
and  especially  a  large  number  of  books  on  all  progressive 
thought.  When  I  enter  the  home  of  a  spiritualist  the  first  thing 
I  do  is  to  look  for  their  books.  If  I  do  not  find  spiritual  works 
there,  I  say  to  myself,  "They  are  only  Spiritualists  in  name." 
There  is  no  excuse  at  the  present  day  for  Spiritualists  to  have 
no  spiritual  works  in  their  library.  There  are  the  works  of  Bro- 
ther Peebles,  Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  Cora  Richmond,  Hudson 
Tuttle,  Emmett  Coleman  and  many  others  that  I  could  name. 
The  other  day  while  Leah  Fox  and  myself  were  conversing  with 
the  spirit  of  Samuel  B.  Brittan,  he  said,  "There  lies  in  the  power 
of  Brother  Peebles  a  great  host  for  Spiritualism."  Leah  Fox 
said,  "I  hope  Brother  Peebles  will  live  for  many  years  yet.  His 
moralizing  process  is  like  the  commands  of  an  angel  who  says, 
'You  must  become  as  a  little  child  to  look  upon  the  works  of 
God  and  as  you  grow  you  will  see  there  is  a  divine  record  kept. 
All  those  that  have  the  spirit  of  Christ  found  in  their  souls,  with 
that  great  love  for  one  another  are  recorded  there.  The  voice  of 
Truth  proclaims  it  to  the  spirit  circles.  When  you  have  at- 
tained the  perfection  of  perfectness  you  are  one  of  the  disciples 
of  Truth  and  can  minister  to  the  children  of  God.'  ' 

Xow  I  leave  my  love  for  Justin  and  thank  you  with  all  my 
soul  for  the  kindness  you  have  favored  me  with  in  taking  down 
my  communication.  Your  reward  is  in  the  love  and  great  wish 
that  you  have  to  assist  spirits  to  communicate  through  Little 
Justin  to  the  loved  ones  in  physical  bodies. 

At  another  time  I  will  give  you  some  of  my  spiritual  expe- 
riences. As  I  have  held  that  organ  as  long  as  the  guides  will 
permit  me.  they  have  made  me  a  promise  that  I  may  return  in 
the  future  and  fulfill  my  desire.  Good  day. 

Friday.  July  22.  1904. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  I  call  you  brother,  as  I 
give  to  you  a  sister's  love.  Anyone  that  loves  Puss.  I  love  too. 
They  have  permitted  me  to  keep  my  promise,  as  I  am  pleased 
to  do  it  on  my  son's  birthday;  I  mean  the  one  that  came  here 
and  communicated,  telling  you  that  he.  his  wife  and  two  child- 
ren were  partially  burned  on  that  ill-fated  steamer  .Slocum.  with 


442         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

a  whole  group  of  church  people  that  were  baptized  near  Hell 
Gate  on  the  East  River.  If  they  did  not  all  believe  in  immer- 
sion they  had  to  accept  it  on  that  occasion.  Such  catastrophes 
bring  sorrow  to  the  hearts  of  many.  I  gave  the  name  to  my  son 
of  George  Warren.  He  was  adopted  into  a  family  that  bore  the 
name  of  Sherwood.  His  name  became  George  Warren 
Sherwood.  Today,  the  22nd  of  July,  is  the  anniversary 
of  his  birthday  in  a  physical  body.  We  are  all  here  today  (raps) 
as  they  have  a  desire  to  hear  me  tell  my  spiritual  experience  in 
spirit  life.  The  raps  were  made  by  my  son,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. Now  my  expression  shall  be  plain  and  to  the  point. 

When  I  was  passing  through  the  dark  passage  called  Death 
of  the  physical  body,  and  stepped  into  consciousness  on  the  spirit 
side  of  life,  I  was  surprised — aye,  even  more  than  surprised,  I 
was  happy — to  find  so  many  spirit  friends  awaiting  my  coming 
to  their  side  of  life.  My  whole  soul  was  enthused  with  joy  at 
the  beauties  I  beheld  with  my  spiritual  eyes.  Many  of  the  dear 
friends  that  I  had  known  in  the  physical  form  surrounded  me 
with  a  spiritual  glow  of  happiness.  It  would  take  up  too  much 
space  for  you  to  enter  their  names  in  the  communication,  but 
I  will  mention  one  before  I  further  proceed,  and  that  was  Wil- 
liam Cullen  Bryant.  He  clasped  my  hand  in  both  of  his  with 
such  a  friendly  grasp,  saying,  "Estelle,  I  am  glad  to  meet  you. 
You  will  come  to  our  home  and  rest  with  us.  You  look  tired; 
that  storm  you  have  passed  through  on  board  of  ship  weakened 
your  physical  nerves  and  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  has  had  an 
effect  on  your  spiritual  condition."  I  said  to  the  friends,  ''How- 
sweet  and  good  you  all  look.  Your  scenes  here  are  the  expres- 
sion of  beauty  to  one's  soul  that  has  just  come  among  you/' 

As  I  was  walking  with  the  friends  toward  their  home  I  felt 
a  spirit  pulling  at  my  dress  or  spiritual  garment.  I  turned 
around  to  see  who  it  was  and  there  stood  Puss,  or  Justin,  as  you 
call  him  in  the  physical  body.  I  was  so  surprised,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  I  had  lost  my  speech,  when  Puss  said,  "Estelle,  do  you 
not  know  me?"  I  found  my  speech  and  said.  "Yes.  What  are 
you  doing  here;  have  you  preceded  me  to  spirit  life?"  Puss 
laughed  and  said,  ''Do  you  not  know  that  I  live  in  both  spheres? 
My  physical  body  is  resting  now  at  my  home.  You  see,  I  am 
here  to  welcome  you  to  the  real  world  in  life.  My  earthly  body 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  443 

has  not  the  power  to  hold  me  always  there."  I  said,  "Come 
with  me ;  I  have  many  things  to  ask  and  many  questions  to  put 
to  you  for  which  I  expect  an  answer  in  return  to  each  one  of  my 
questions." 

When  we  arrived  at  Mr.  Bryant's  home  and  had  taken  seats 
in  the  beautiful  hall  located  in  the  center  of  a  pretty  park,  I 
said,  "Puss,  do  you  remember  appearing  in  a  room  located  in  a 
cottage  in  Melbourne,  Australia?  You  appeared  there  to  others 
and  myself;  the  individuals  present  were  Mrs.  Cochran,  Mrs. 
Tiffany,  Mrs.  Burnham,  Mrs.  Goldsmith,  Mr.  Goldsmith,  Mr. 
Welch,  Mr.  Scott,  Mr.  Tiffany,  a  Mr.  Taylor  and  myself."  Puss 
said,  "Yes,  I  do  remember  it.  I  also  appeared  to  you  on  board 
of  ship.  You  only  saw  me,  as  it  were,  through  a  haze."  I  said, 
"Puss,  why  did  you  not  speak  to  us  in  Melbourne?"  Puss  said, 
"As  I  was  about  to  speak  to  you  Mr.  Tiffany  acted  so  about  the 
room  being  so  close  I  lost  my  speech  and  had  to  withdraw  from 
the  room.  I  am  glad  you  recognized  me  then." 

When  we  had  finished  talking  on  that  matter  I  discovered 
a  band  of  spirits  approaching  the  grounds.  Emma  Hardinge 
Brittan  arose  and  said,  "We  will  go  out  and  meet  them  ;  they 
belong  to  a  Masonic  order  that  held  its  meetings  in  a  temple 
in  Egypt  over  200,000  years  ago."  As  we  approached  them  I 
noticed  their  garments  had  an  Egyptian  look  to  them ;  they 
were  white  and  fell  in  graceful  folds  to  their  ankles :  the  men 
and  women  were  all  dressed  alike  ;  they  wore  scarlet  belts  around 
their  waists,  embroidered  with  gold.  A  long  surplice  hung  over 
their  white  garment,  that  was  also  scarlet,  embroidered  \vith 
gold.  Around  their  necks  were  gold  chains  to  which  were  fas- 
tened Maltese  crosses,  and  crescent  moons  with  stars  entering 
the  moon.  Those  were  ancient  emblems  of  the  Masonic  order 
in  Egypt  over  200,000  years  ago.  I  noticed  that  the  hair  and 
beards  of  the  males  was  long;  many  of  the  females  had  hair 
hanging  down  below  their  knees.  All  the  males  had  scrolls 
wound  upon  golden  sticks  and  I  could  see  that  the  scrolls  or 
manuscripts  were  formed  and  fashioned  from  some  delicate  fibre. 
One  of  the  male  priests  unwound  his  scroll  and  T  could  see  very 
peculiar  looking  characters  written  upon  it  in  red  and  green. 
It  was  not  fashioned  or  formed  from  papyrus  or  parchment,  it 
was  some  delicate  substance  and  when  held  up  to  the  light  was 


444         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

transparent;  such  a  material  as  that  I  never  beheld  before.  The 
females  held  in  their  hands  a  golden  key  and  a  compass.  As  we 
smiled  upon  them  they  returned  it  with  such  a  gracious  smile, 
it  had  an  expression  to  it  that  no  earthly  face  or  eyes  in  a  mate- 
rial form  had  the  power  to  express.  The  leading  priest — whose 
name  was  Oae-ys-phit — commenced  to  speak  in  a  deep,  rich  bass 
voice,  welcoming  me  to  spirit  life.  I  wondered  what  I  had  done 
in  my  physical  body  to  deserve  such  an  honor  as  this.  Puss 
laughed ;  he  laughed  so  loud  and  long  it  frightened  me.  I  won- 
dered if  it  were  possible  for  spirts  to  lose  their  reason  in  spirit 
life.  He  dematerialized  out  of  sight. 

The  High  Priest — or  the  High  Personage,  if  you  choose  to 
call  him  so — said,  "Sa-ua-ran-da  has  gone  back  to  the  physical 
body  and  must  carry  on  the  physical  work."  I  said,  "Why  do 
you  call  Puss,  'Sa-ua-ran-da?'''  He  said,  "Are  you  not  aware 
that  she  is  one  of  our  order  and  has  taken  on  a  male  body  to 
carry  out  a  certain  work ;  have  you  never  heard  how  she  gives 
Masonic  signs?  Is  it  possible  that  you  have  known  her  so  long 
and  that  your  acquaintance  has  only  held  such  a  frail  part  of 
friendship?  Wait  and  you  will  see;  she  will  come  to  you  again 
in  spirit  life  while  her  body  will  rest  in  some  home  on  earth." 
I  then  said  to  that  venerable  looking  old  man,  "You  really  be- 
lieve in  reincarnation — that  is,  the  spirit  takes  on  physical  em- 
bodiment?" He  said,  "To  us  it  is  more  than  a  belief,  it  is 
reality,  a  fixed  law  in  nature's  growth ;  all  spiritual  action  is  but 
the  leaves  that  grow  on  the  tree  of  knowledge.  Wisdom  is  a 
power  that  controls  the  innate  sense  of  the  brain  faculties ;  that 
is  why  those  of  modern  thought  call  our  power  and  philosophy 
the  Wisdom  Religion."  I  said  to  him,  "Why  did  you  come  here 
to  welcome  me  to  the  spirit  world?"  Just  then  they  all  com- 
menced to  sing  a  beautiful  piece  of  music  and  I  too,  commenced 
to  sing  with  them  ;  when  the  singing  had  finished  I  commenced 
to  feel  a  peculiar  condition  stealing  over  me,  as  it  were,  to  my 
surprise.  I  cried  aloud,  "I  am  Hou-ra-e-may."  After  I  had  pro- 
nounced the  name  my  whole  spiritual  being  seemed  to  change; 
the  venerable  old  man  held  me  to  his  bosom  ;  he  then  cried 
aloud,  "She  remembers  now  that  she  was  one  of  us."  When  lie 
had  finished  the  spirits  commenced  to  sing  and  I  remembered 
then  that  1  was  Hou-ra-e-mav,  a  sister  of  their  order.  T  had 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  445 

taken  upon  me  a  physical  body  to  perform  a  certain  work  for  the 
benefit  of  the  human  race. 

I  beheld  among  the  people  many  poets  and  literary  people, 
especially  one  that  I  seemed  to  be  drawn  to  very  close,  Walt 
Whitman,  as  he  was  called  in  the  physical  body;  in  the  order 
Hy-y-ell-mare-yn  ;  that  is  his  name  in  the  order.  He  took  me  by 
the  hand,  saying,  "You  understand  why  we  are  attracted  to  each 
other — it  is  called  'Holy  Love,'  and  now  we  are  spirit  mates." 
It  seemed  to  me  just  then  he  became  the  most  perfect  spirit  I 
ever  beheld.  He  said  to  me,  "Your  trials  and  mine  in  physical 
embodiments  were  many ;  we  conquered  the  physical  and  now 
can  revel  in  the  spiritual.  Our  life  for  the  future  will  be  a  spir- 
itual eon  through  all  time."  I  said,  "Then  you,  too,  belong  to 
this  order?"  He  said,  "Most  assuredly;  each  one  takes  their 
turn  in  entering  a  physical  body  and  performing  a  work  for  the 
benefit  of  the  human  race."  He  clasped  me  in  his  arms  and  held 
me  there  until  a  great  shadow  had  been  lifted  from  off  my  head. 
I  said,  "Soul  mate,  I  see  it  and  understand  it  all  now.  \Vhen 
creating  and  generating  took  place  we  were  a  little  eon  thrown 
off  from  that  great  eon  in  life.  Now  we  have  met  again  to  ful- 
fill that  great  law  of  Reason  constantly  working  out  our  power 
in  soul  called  'Holy  Love;  It  is  all  so  beautiful  to  me  now 
that  I  went  earthward  as  a  spirit  messenger  from  the  realms  of 
Truth.  In  physical  embodiments  the  people  call  this  power 
Modern  Theosophy.  Xow  I  understand  why  the  guides  of  Lit- 
tle Puss  call  it  Spiritual  Philosophy.  I  have  heard  them  say  it 
will  become  one  of  the  great  religions  of  the  human  race,  and 
perhaps  the  greatest  that  the  world  shall  ever  know."  Just  then 
I  heard  music  :  it  came  upon  my  ear  and  soul  as  a  great  orches- 
tra: then  I  beheld  so  many  spirits  that  had  worked  in  the  spirit- 
ual ranks  on  earth  clothed  in  the  same  garments  that  I  now  be- 
held myself  clothed  in  :  we  took  up  the  march  and  sang  to  the 
great  God  of  Xature. 

\\"e  will  take  it  up  at  another  time:  they  say  I  have  held 
him  long  enough.  I  can  only  give  it  in  sections. 

Wednesday.  July  27.  1904. 

Good  morning,  brother.  I  will  now  continue  my  commu- 
nication. Laura  Kecne,  Jane  Siddon.  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
(  Hiver  \\  endell  Holmes,  Sarah  Denin.  Alice  and  Phoebe  Carv, 


446         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Olive  and  Eliza  Logan,  James  Russell  Lowell,  Mrs.  Peak,  Long- 
fellow, Van  Ame,  Mrs.  Drew  and  myself  visited  the  home  of 
Helen  Petrovia  Blavatsky,  known  as  Madame  Blavatsky  while 
living  in  the  physical  body.  She  entertained  us  in  a  high,  ele- 
vated manner,  which  was  both  grand  and  gracious.  In  her  great 
hall  were  many  students  in  Spiritual  Theosophy.  She  said, 
"Theosophy  without  Spiritualism  is  a  dry  husk."  She  sees  now 
on  the  spirit  side  of  life  that  no  philosophy  can  stand  on  a  true 
foundation  that  ignores  spiritualism,  for  spiritualism  is  the  true 
foundation  of  Theosophy.  Karma  is  the  Light  running  through 
your  life  while  in  a  physical  embodiment.  The  great  power  of 
spirit  manifesting  itself  through  the  light  of  Karma  is  study- 
ing the  great  lesson  that  leads  to  spiritual  consciousness  imbued 
and  worked  out  through  Nature's  God.  She  called  her  school 
to  order  and  many  of  the  advanced  Chelas — or  students — ex- 
pressed themselves  on  the  words  that  she  presented  to  them  for 
a  full  expression  of  Spiritual  Theosophy.  It  was  grand  to  listen 
to  the  elevated  and  highly  cultured  expression  given  by  those 
students.  They  divined  with  God  in  Nature. 

After  the  exercises  had  closed  and  they  sang  a  beautiful 
piece  of  music  composed  by  the  spirit  of  XYagner,  I  said  to  her, 
"There  are  a  number  of  Theosophists  living  in  physical  bodies 
who  claim  that  you  are  reincarnated  into  the  physical  body  of  a 
boy  in  Egypt."  She  laughed  aloud,  and  many  of  the  students 
joined  in  the  laugh.  She  said,  "\Yhile  living  in  a  physical  form 
I  found  in  the  philosophy  of  Theosophy  weak  minds,  as  1  did 
in  other  philosophies  while  living  in  the  physical  body.  I  shall 
never  be  reincarnated  until  1  am  thoroughly  prepared  to  hold  a 
leading  office  at  the  head  of  the  American  nation.  Such  am  I 
preparing  my  condition  for  now  ;  when  I  take  on  a  physical  body 
again  it  will  be  when  women  stand  equal  with  men  and  they 
shall  have  their  say  in  all  the  governing  principles  and  laws  of 
the  great  American  nation.  My  work  here  in  spirit  life  requires 
my  presence.  The  magnetic  currents  passing  between  my  stu- 
dents and  myself  arc  creating  a  condition  for  elevated  educators. 
Many  of  those  students  that  you  have  looked  upon  will  return 
to  earth  and  become  reincarnated  into  physical  bodies  whereby 
they  will  grow  up  into  men  and  women  and  become  the  teachers 
of  that  grand  philosophy — Spiritual  Theosophy. 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  447 

"There  is  a  great  dissention  in  the  spiritual  ranks.  The 
highly  cultured  and  more  elevated  class  of  spiritualists  will  ac- 
cept spiritual  Theosophy  as  a  religion,  as  nature  shows  us  when 
this  planet  took  its  position  in  space  all  that  is  on  it  at  the  pres- 
ent time  was  on  it  then — nothing  has  been  added  to  it.  Through 
the  law  of  Evolution  all  things  have  become  developed.  The 
human  mind  is  entering  upon  a  highly  developed  condition  of 
spiritual  growth.  It  has  passed  through  the  Purgatory  of  Su- 
perstition, Priestcraft,  and  its  fiendish  power  is  waning;  all  the 
imps  and  devils  of  sectarianism  are  becoming  subdued ;  their 
power  of  speech  is  changing  and  they  cannot  help  themselves. 
The  alphabet  of  Reason  holds  a  halo  of  light  around  the  letters. 
Where  it  once  said,  the  "Devil  was  there,"  Love  and  Truth  have 
spread  their  wings  and  now  an  intellectual  mind  says,  'we  have 
God  with  us  for  the  purity  of  our  growing  nature  has  divined  it 
for  us.'  1  am  afraid,  lady,  that  many  of  the  combative  and  con- 
ceited Theosophists  will  try  to  create  a  creed  for  their  undevel- 
oped minds.  The  power  of  Spiritual  Theosophy  will  root  it  up 
and  distribute  it  to  the  winds.  It  is  only  six  weeks  ago  that  I 
attended  a  Theosophical  meeting.  The  speaker  claimed  to  be 
clairvoyant  and  said,  while  in  the  clairvoyant  state,  I  had  told 
her  I  should  become  reincarnated  into  a  physical  body  in  Rus- 
sia. T  had  to  laugh  while  listening  to  such  bosh.  In  the  Theo- 
sophical ranks  there  is  much  that  is  given  to  the  people  it  were 
better  if  never  spoken.  They  have  the  same  conditions  in  the 
Spiritual  ranks.  When  it  is  all  summed  up  it  turns  out  to  be  a 
diabolical  lie.  It  will  be  a  glorious  day  when  the  Spiritual  and 
Theosophical  ranks  are  washed  of  all  such  bosh  and  corruption. 
You  tell  me.  lady,  you  are  giving  your  spiritual  experience 
through  a  medium.  Acquaint  your  friends  with  the  fact  that  I 
am  still  a  teacher  in  spirit  life:  permit  them  on  all  occasions  to 
understand  that  I  never  had  any  desire  to  take  on  a  physical 
body  yet.  1  am  not  only  instructing  my  students,  but  receiv- 
ing instruction  myself  for  a  future  earth  career.  It  will  be  over 
fifty  years  before  1  take  on  a  physical  embodiment."  This  is 
what  Helen  Ulavatsky  told  me  in  her  great  Hall  of  Learning. 
There  were  many  ancient  spirits  present  whose  countenances 
were  beautiful  to  behold  ;  they  were  all  illuminated  with  a  hea- 
venly light  :  their  whole  personality  was  that  of  divinity  or  a 


448         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

divine  expression  pervaded  them  throughout,  their  whole  at- 
mosphere was  impregnated  with  holy  love ;  all  that  visited  there 
felt  when  coming  away  they  had  been  in  the  presence  of  a  Di- 
vinity beyond  their  comprehension.  As  we  were  leaving,  one  of 
the  ancient  spirits  said,  "I  will  send  the  messenger  of  Peace  to 
your  homes :  your  soul  will  be  filled  with  holy  love ;  let  your 
tribute  of  praise  be  to  the  God  of  Nature  for  we  are,  as  you  see, 
symbols  of  that  higher  Divinity  whose  outworkings  are  for  the 
benefit  of  the  human  race ;  in  time  we  will  draw  them  toward 
our  condition  when  they  will  understand  there  is  no  personality 
in  the  God  of  the  Universe.  All  is  a  harmonious  Love,  unified 
through  the  laws  of  Nature." 

That  afternoon  in  our  homes  we  felt  and  understood  the 
law  of  Peace  had  entered  our  souls,  our  natures  were  attuned  to 
Harmony  and  we  sang  with  joy. 

The  medium,  Justin,  as  you  call  him.  wonders  why  it  is  in 
his  normal  state  he  cannot  find  words  to  give  expression  to  his 
thoughts.  It  is  very  simple.  He  is  minus  the  education  that  is 
required  of  educated  individuals  to  form  and  fashion  the  words 
to  give  high  expression  to  his  thoughts  while  living  in  a  physical 
body.  \Ye  as  spirits  feed  his  organ  of  speech  to  give  expres- 
sion to  our  communications.  You  have  to  feed  a  printing  press 
with  type,  paper  and  ink  to  receive  a  newspaper  therefrom  ;  the 
compositor  or  typesetter  has  the  brain  work  to  read  the  copy 
and  set  it  up  in  type.  The  medium  has  the  press,  we  are  the 
compositors  that  furnish  that  press  with  thoughts  and  through 
his  organ  of  speech  we  give  communications  to  the  reading  pub- 
lic. "We  will  continue  at  another  time. 

Friday.  July  29.   1904. 

Good  morning,  brother.  I  will  now  continue  my  communi- 
cation. T  had  a  question  to  ask  Brother  Bryant:  while  prepar- 
ing myself  to  ask  that  question  a  peculiar  feeling  came  over  me 
and  it  seemed  as  if  1  was  going  into  a  sleepy  state,  when  all  of 
a  sudden  there  stood  before  me  the  spirit  of  Puss.  He  smiled 
and  said.  "1 'resent  Brother  Bryant  with  your  question."  I  said 
to  Brother  Bryant.  "I  would  like  to  know  how  you  knew  I  war- 
coming  to  spirit  life — that  is.  you  and  the  other  friends  who  were 
there  to  receive  me?"  He  said.  "Estelle,  there  is  a  magnetic 
current  of  love  that  holds  its  power  in  readiness  to  serve  the 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  449 

purpose  of  notifying  loving  friends  of  each  other's  actions. 
Through  that  current  we  are  notified  when  any  of  our  friends 
are  about  to  pass  from  their  physical  body  to  take  a  spiritual 
step  on  to  this  side  of  life.  You  may  call  it  the  wireless  tele- 
graph if  you  choose ;  it  is  a  telegraph  of  Love  that  never  ceases 
to  exist  between  two  loving  friends.  When  the  message  is  sent 
and  received  by  us  in  spirit  life  we  are  in  waiting  for  you  to  come 
to  our  side  of  life ;  that  is  why  you  saw  so  many  friends  on  your 
arrival."  Puss  said,  "Dear  Brother  Bryant,  you  forget  to  tell 
her  that  I  played  the  part  of  Cupid  between  you  both.  I  car- 
ried the  loving  messages  that  drew  you  together.  She  loved  a 
man  dearly  while  living  in  the  physical  body.  She  gave  to  him 
all  that  which  woman  holds  dear,  but  the  soul's  love  was  re- 
served for  you.  Xow  you  understand,  Estelle  dear,  why  he  was 
waiting  to  receive  you.  My  task  now  is  finished  with  you  and 
others.  I  will  return  to  my  physical  body  to  take  up  an  entirely 
different  line  of  labor."  After  Puss  had  clematerialized  and  re- 
turned to  his  physical  body  my  soul  mate  said,  "Let  us  get  our 
will  power  to  work,  then  we  can  pass  on  to  the  Valley  of  Flow- 
ers." When  we  arrived  there  I  made  the  discovery,  it  was  a 
beautiful  valley  and  thousands  of  happy  children  were  there : 
such  bright  faces  it  seems  to  me  I  never  saw  on  earth  :  the  love 
expressed  by  those  children  toward  their  teachers  was  some- 
thing marvelous,  aye.  holy.  \Ye  sat  down  on  a  green,  grassy 
bank  with  many  other  spirits  to  watch  the  children  in  their  happy 
sports ;  they  were  all  called  to  order  by  their  teachers,  who  com- 
manded them  to  form  in  line.  Just  then  we  heard  a  beautiful 
orchestra  playing  a  march  :  the  children  commenced  to  march, 
led  by  their  teachers;  while  marching  they  all  sang.  At  a  given 
signal  they  formed  into  groups  around  their  teachers.  When 
they  had  all  formed  into  groups  it  left  a  large  hollow  square  in 
the  center  of  the  valley.  All  of  a  sudden  we  heard  some  beau- 
tiful music  away  off.  as  it  seemed,  accompanied  by  beautiful 
singing  voices.  It  kept  drawing  nearer  all  the  while  until  those 
beautiful  spirits  hovered  over  the  square.  They  were  too  beau- 
tiful for  me  to  describe.  1  would  fail  if  1  made  the  attempt. 
They  showered  the  whole  square  with  beautiful  flowers  of  ev- 
ery hue  and  color:  they  kept  descending  and  ascending  while 
singing  and  dropping  their  flowers  upon  the  square.  Then  the 


450         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

music  changed  to  beautiful,  soft,  mellow  tones ;  the  children 
danced  and  sang,  all  the  time  beckoning  for  the  flowers  to  come 
to  them.  The  flowers  would  arise  into  space  and  float  to  each 
group  of  children  hovering  over  their  heads.  Then  the  children 
folded  their  arms  across  their  breasts  and  sang  of  the  beautiful 
spirit  home.  The  flowers  formed  and  fashioned  letters,  spell- 
ing out  the  spirit  names  of  each  child.  Then  the  music  burst  forth 
into  a  grand  piece  of  music  which  was  sung  by  the  children  and 
teachers.  All  the  while  they  were  showered  with  flowers  by  the 
spirits  that  seemed  to  be  highly  celestial  in  nature,  then  they, 
the  teachers  and  children  sang  a  great  hosanna  to  the  God  of 
Nature.  When  they  had  finished  we  could  not  see  the  children 
or  teachers ;  the  flowers  were  in  such  great  profusion  they  hid 
them  from  our  sight.  I  cried  aloud  with  joy,  proclaiming  that 
was  the  grandest  sight  I  had  seen  in  the  spirit  world  yet.  My 
joy  knew  no  bounds,  neither  could  I  hold  it  in  check.  I  said, 
"If  the  children  of  earth  could  only  have  seen  what  I  have  wit- 
nessed here  today,  but  then,  alas,  many  of  them  would  hasten 
the  time  to  get  here  if  they  possibly  could."  My  soul  was  so 
filled  with  joy  that  I  sang  all  the  way  back  to  my  home. 

After  we  had  partaken  of  a  spiritual  repast  my  spirit  mate 
said,  "Estelle,  dear — for  I  shall  always  call  you  by  that  name, 
as  it  was  the  first  that  I  ever  knew  you  by — look  around,  dear, 
and  you  will  see  there  are  no  drones  here.  I  would  like  to  have 
you  accompany  me  back  to  earth  ;  we  will  enter  the  homes  of 
the  low  and  degraded,  comfort  their  last  hours  by  bringing  to 
bear  a  soothing  influence  over  their  suffering  bodies  before  they 
pass  from  earth.  Think,  dear,  of  the  poor  little  children  that 
suffer  from  poverty,  starvation  and  pain  in  those  dreadful  hov- 
els. 'By  our  works  shall  we  be  known.'  and  as  it  is  the  desire  of 
elevated  spirits  to  reach  the  glorification  in  spiritual  life,  we  can 
only  accomplish  it  by  assisting  others  and  making  them  happy. 
You  saw  today  what  teachers  have  accomplished  in  spirit  life. 
Xow  let  us  prepare  our  condition  with  others  to  carry  on  a  work 
in  earth  sphere  whereby  we  can  carry  thoughts  of  Love  to  the 
afflicted."  I  became  resigned  to  go  forth  with  others  as  a  helper 
in  the  work.  Just  then  many  spirit  friends  assembled  at  our 
home.  I  placed  myself  in  readiness  to  entertain  the  guests. 
After  all  were  seated  thev  commenced  to  sing  and  I  joined  in  with 


MARY  GANNON   (ESTELLE)  451 

the  rest.  After  the  singing  was  finished  many  voices  said,  "Let 
us  enter  the  Temple,  Ur-rau-man-na  lectures  tonight."  We 
walked  from  our  home  on  a  beautiful  path,  where  trees  met 
above  and  formed  a  long  archway.  As  we  approached  the  tem- 
ple I  noticed  there  were  thousands  of  people  entering  by  the  dif- 
ferent doors.  Xo  one  sits  down  while  listening  to  a  lecture. 
After  the  great  Temple  was  well  filled  we  heard  beautiful  mu- 
sic ;  it  sounded  as  if  it  came  from  different  horns ;  there  were  no 
stringed  instruments  perceptible,  possibly  there  might  have  been 
pipes  and  clarionets — it  seemed  to  me  that  it  was  music  that 
proceeded  from  horns  of  some  kind. 

After  they  had  finished  playing  Ur-rau-man-na  entered  from 
a  door  in  the  back  part  of  the  Temple.  He  wore  a  pale  blue 
robe  covered  with  stars  and  hieroglyphics  that  I  did  not  under- 
stand. ( )ne  of  the  spirits  present  standing  on  the  rostrum  said 
that  Ur-rau-man-na  would  lecture  on  reincarnation  as  he  under- 
stood it  over  600,000  years  ago  in  India.  T  looked  upon  his  lec- 
turing as  a  masterpiece  of  work  in  that  line.  1  remember  one 
of  his  sentences  in  which  he  said,  "The  feeble  minds  of  the 
Christian  religion  are  loth  to  grasp  that  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand. They  attack  the  condition  and  the  level  of  which  the 
people  of  India  have  come  to,  they  forget  that  all  nations  rise 
and  fall.  The  people  of  India  will  arise  again  through  an  ele- 
vated condition  of  Modern  Theosophy  called  Spiritual  Theoso- 
phy  and  the  whole  world  will  bow  to  them  in  honor  of  the  great 
Truth  they  had  given  to  the  world  ;  that  is  a  law  the  human  race 
cannot  escape  ;  re-embodiment  is  a  fixed  condition  in  the  natu- 
ral consequence  of  life,  just  as  much  as  the  sun  shines  by  day 
and  moon  at  night.  All  satellites  have  a  greater  power  on  the 
human  intellect  than  you  can  imagine  in  vour  earthly  condi- 
tion." There  is  much  more  to  tell  of  what  I  have  seen  in  spirit 
life  but  they  say  I  must  defer  it  for  the  present  and  take  it  up 
some  other  time. 

Thanking  you.  brother,  for  your  patience  and  time  in  tak- 
ing down  my  communication,  I  leave  my  love  for  Puss.  Tell 
him  to  encourage  patience.  Good  day. 

Pardon  me.  his  old  friend  William  Somerton  of  Philadel- 
phia came  to  spirit  life  last  week.  The  one  that  made  him  a 
present  of  a  cottage  at  Atlantic  City,  when  Mr.  Warren  was  liv- 


452         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

ing  in  the  physical  body.  He  sends  his  love  to  Puss  and  says, 
"Tell  Puss  to  be  of  good  cheer."  He  is  the  one  who  took  us  out 
on  the  yacht  when  I  was  making  a  visit  at  Atlantic  City.  He 
lived  to  be  99  years,  8  months  and  14  days  old.  Again  good  day. 

November  twenty-second  is  Justin's  birthday. 
The  demons  of  Hell  will  have  their  say, 
Reason  and  Power  must  have  its  way, 
Priestcraft  falls  when  the  band  begins  to  play. 

In  Hell  he  is  a  regular  swell, 
The   Temple  of  Science  rings   its  bell. 
This  is  one  of  the  days  that  Adam  fell 
Through  the  corridors  he  moves  like  a  swell. 

Tom    Paine   says   it   is   very   plain 
That  crucifiction  must  have  been  lame, 
Priestcraft  hides  its  face  in   shame, 
And  does  nothing  but  howl  and  complain. 

Bob  says  he  will  take  a  hand  in  Hell, 
And  make  things  a  regular  moving  swell. 
In  the  cauldron  Christian  tales  he  will  tell, 
And  boil  them  down  to  a  regular  sell. 

This  is  the  demon's  gay  holiday, 
Since  Christians  they  caught  at  their  play. 
Now  Theodore  Parker  can  have  his  way. 
Martin  Luther  can  no  more  the  world  betray. 

.The  pipes  of  priestcraft  are  very  lame. 
Out  of  them  come  the  notes  of  shame. 
It  squacks  like  the  cry  of  an  old  crane. 
Wisdom  has  shown  up  superstition  so  plain. 

Science  has  caught  Christianity  in  its  snare, 

For  a  scholar  in  the   Bible  was  very  rare. 

The  world  swam  in  ether  6000  years  they  declare. 

Science  savs  millions  and  eons  would  be  fair. 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  453 

I  love  to  dwell  in  the  blue  flame, 
Since  Hell  hides  the  blushes  of  shame 
That  priestcraft  tries  hard  to  explain, 
But  all  their  teachings  are  on  the  wane. 

They've  been  trying  to  read  the  Pope's  bull, 
But  in  Hell  it  has  only  shown  a  religious  fool 
Coming  in  contact  with  our  liberal  school, 
Since  we  unravel  the  threads  of  our  winding  spool. 

I  heard  an  echo  from  some  sound, 

That  did  the  "Age  of  Reason"  compound. 

To  humanity  it  shows  Christianity  a  begging  hound, 

The  "Age  of  Reason"  their  religions  confound. 

A  swell  is  bursting  in  Justin's  heart, 
Since  Virgil  takes  a  speaking  part. 
Townsend  will  show  a  part  of  his  art, 
The  skylark  of  the  air  displays  her  art. 

Oh,  those  lovely  notes  from  a  singing  bird 
Coinheres  with  its  every  word. 
Out  of  life  they've  been  caught  by  the  bird 
And  lays  on  man's  brain  like  a  swird. 

I  heard  an  echo  far  down  the  glen. 
Says  life  is  eternal  to  women  and  men. 
The  bible  creation  is  a  dismal  blank  then, 
Prayers  are  uttered  in  Rome  by  a  croaking  hen. 

The  maids  in  Hell  are  out  on  a  lark, 

Thev  declare  Jesus  Christ  they  are  going  to  spark ; 

While  Jesus  cries  this  is  maidenly  art, 

I'll  go  and  take  a  ride  in  David's  cart. 

Margaret  Fuller  says,  "This  is  grand," 
Wisdom  today  has  a  solid  stand. 
Science  has  things  at  its  command, 
You  see  education  on  everv  hand. 


454        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Margaret's  rhythm  is  consoling  and  plain, 
The  flowers  of  nature  depend  on  the  rain. 
The  Gods  of  the  past  are  on  the  wane, 
Humanity's  reasoning  powers  are  becoming  sane. 

Kepler's  science  is  read  near  and  far. 
He  makes  the  Christians  creed  a  peddling  car, 
Astronomy  has  come  to  earth  a  leading  star, 
Waiting  the  decision  from  near  and  far. 

Voltaire's  powers  are  felt  by  the  world  today. 
They  are  acute  and  ever  on  the  play, 
Giving  showers  of  German  thought  on  its  way; 
Behold,  his  mind  is  a  talisman  today. 

De  Alembert  in  his  psychical  search 
Gave  to  the  world  a  beautiful  birth, 
Which  displayed  an  occult  power  on  earth. 
Every  one  can  reason  it  out  by  their  fire  hearth. 

Rosseau's  philosophical  turn  of  mind 
Opened  the  eyes  of  the  credulous  blind. 
He  laughed  at  the  lie  the  Christians  signed, 
And  threw  all  Hell  and  bosh  to  the  wind. 

Condorcet  showed  to  the  thinking  world 
That  he  got  all  the  Greek  Gods  in  a  swirl. 
Boys  at  school  had  to  take  through  the  ferrule, 
If  he  didn't  his  mind  wasn't  a  precious  pearl. 

Thus  it  was  in  years  of  yore. 

Believe  or  you  are  rotten  at  the  core. 

It  caused  man}'  poor  minds  lying  sick  and  sore. 

Waiting  to  cross  to  the  other  shore. 

Awake,  ye  sons  and  daughters,  to  reason. 
Overthrow  all  priestcraft  and  treason. 
Let  the  mind  be  well  balanced  in  season, 
Thev  would  steal  vour  birthright  reason. 


MARY  GANNON  (ESTELLE)  455 

Justin,  this  is  your  token  today, 
Through  your  organ  we  had  our  say. 
Ye  stood  the  scoffs  just  that   way, 
Please  keep  right  on  this  track  we  pray. 

Let  your  light  beam  from  a  beacon  high, 

That  you  may  draw  messages  from  the  spiritual  sky 

You  see  your  predictions  have  been  no  lie, 

The  secret  lay  between  God,  you  and  I. 

Your  loving  friend, 

Spirit  John  Hammond. 

I  looked  at  a  pebble  lying  in  a  brook, 
It  revealed  pages  of  a  heavenly  book. 
Stars  on  its  face  would  silently  look, 
Because  God  had  written  in   this  book. 

I  took  the  pebble  in  my  wavering  hand, 
It  spoke  to  me  of  deserts  in  a  distant  land 
Where  it  lay  in  the  singing  sand, 
And  now  I  find  it  in  Nature's  hand. 

And  as   I   threw  it  in  the  brook, 

A  heavenly  choir  at  me  did  look. 

And  notes  came  out  from  a  watery  nook, 

Played  on  a  beautiful  pebbly  flute. 

Those  sprites  that  danced  and  flirted  on  the  wave, 
Came  out  from  a  pebbly  palace  cave. 
The  music  lured  me  in  the  brook  to  bathe, 
That  their  libations  I  might  drink  and  lave. 

They  spoke  to  me  of  deserts  far  and  wide, 
This  pebble  will  be  my  talisman  guide, 
Xo  thirst   would  come  to  lay  me  down  beside. 
The  Arab  in  his  dark  and  thirsty  grave  betide. 


Emma  Hardinge  Brittan 

Chapter  XXXVIII 

I  am  pleased,  sir,  to  come  into  your  presence.  I  was  at- 
tracted here  to  see  these  ancients  control.  I  have  been  per- 
mitted to  control,  to  give  you  an  explanation.  I  heard  in  Eng- 
land that  the  ancient  spirits  had  found  a  medium  through  which 
they  could  communicate.  That  was  the  attraction  that  brought 
me  here.  I  was  known  in  the  lecture  field  as  Emma  Hardinge 
Brittan.  I  wish  to  explain  to  you  the  condition  of  a  dark  se- 
ance, which  I  hope  you  will  never  permit  yourself  to  sit  in. 
They  attract  low,  evil  and  undeveloped  spirts.  Most  all  the  in- 
dividuals that  claim  to  be  mediums  in  these  dark  circles  are 
fraudulent  individuals.  They  are  frauds  of  the  worst  kind,  such 
as  Jesse  Shephard  and  others.  I  exposed  that  man  whenever  I 
had  the  chance.  He  claimed  that  spirits  played  through  him 
in  those  dark  circles,  which  was  a  lie.  He  was  a  ventriloquist 
and  used  that  power,  in  the  dark,  to  testify  to  you.  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  his  father  and  when  I  told  him  that  his  son 
posed  as  a  spiritual  medium  a  great  surprise  came  over  his  face. 
He  said  in  answer  to  me,  "My  son  is  an  educated  musician,  and 
travels  giving  musicales."  I  told  him  that  his  son  represented 
to  play  under  spirit  power.  He  said  that  spirit  power  cost 
money.  He  turned  and  walked  away,  so  I  had  no  chance  to 
converse  with  him  further.  So  you  see  that  this  man  Shephard 
was  a  traveling  mountebank. 

Today  there  are  hundreds  of  those  fraudulent  mediums  liv- 
ing as  vampires  upon  the  people,  and  claiming  to  have  com- 
munication with  spirits  of  the  departed,  which  is  a  crime  and 
should  be  punished  to  the  full  extent  of  the  law.  I  feel  sorry 
to  think  that  genuine  mediums  have  to  suffer  the  stigma  of  these 
mountebanks.  The  majority  of  the  people  class  them  all  alike. 
They  do  not  study  the  beautiful  philosophy  of  Spiritualism  or 
the  truth  of  its  manifestations.  There  are  mediums  living  in 
the  body  today  that  obey  the  highest  laws  of  truth  and  morality. 
I  thank  God  that  the  light  is  breaking  through  the  great  clouds 
of  mvsticism  to  show  to  the  people  that  this  is  the  only  proof 


EMMA  HARDINGE  BRITTAN  457 

of  immortality.  Many  ministers  in  the  pulpit  know  and  realize 
it  to  be  a  truth.  They  have  investigated  and  found  God  is  love. 
That  great  power  with  all  the  soul  of  charity  has  permitted 
spirits  to  return  to  their  loved  ones.  I  have  travelled  a  great 
deal  over  the  world  and  found  many  beautiful  characters  that 
were  genuine  mediums  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  condition 
I  found  twenty  frauds  to  one  genuine  medium. 

Now  I  will  speak  of  this  medium.  I  met  him  over  forty  years 
ago  in  the  company  of  a  gentleman  from  West  Point,  who  bore 
the  name  of  Warren.  It  was  at  Doctor  Newton's  home.  They 
were  invited  there,  as  well  as  others,  to  hear  a  paper  read  on  Ev- 
olution. I  was  one  of  the  individuals  that  was  present.  After 
the  reading  of  the  paper,  while  most  of  them  were  engaged  in 
conversation,  Doctor  Newton  stepped  to  my  side  and  said, 
"Emma,  watch  that  boy.  Do  you  not  think  he  is  a  medium?" 
Mr.  Warren  noticed  Doctor  Newton  and  I  looking  toward  them. 
He  withdrew  and  took  the  boy  with  him.  I  did  not  say  any- 
thing as  toward  his  mediumistic  powers,  but  I  said,  "Doctor 
Newton,  that  individual  has  the  prettiest  hand  and  foot  I  ever 
saw  on  a  human  being."  You  see  I  was  in  a  worldly  mood 
then.  His  hand  and  foot  attracted  me  so  I  could  not  refrain 
from  looking  at  them.  The  Doctor  smiled  and  said,  "Emma, 
you  admire  physical  beauty." 

The  next  time  I  saw  this  medium  was  in  Boston  at  the 
rooms  of  Doctor  Thomas  in  Haywood  Place  off  Washington 
street.  There  were  present  Charles  Foster,  the  test  medium ; 
Doctor  Taylor  and  wife  ;  Doctor  Pierce  and  wife ;  a  Mr.  Arnold 
that  was  singing  with  the  Caroline  Richings  Opera  Company  at 
the  Boston  Theatre ;  Mr.  Bishop  Buckley  of  the  "Buckley  Sere- 
naclers" ;  Lizzie  Doten,  the  lecturer  and  poet ;  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Spear ;  a  landlord  of  a  hotel,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  and 
myself.  We  went  there  to  meet  a  medium  who  claimed  to  pro- 
duce flowers  in  the  circle,  but  she  failed  to  do  so.  The  bell  rang 
and  Mr.  Samuel  Britton  and  a  Mr.  Coonley  asked  to  be  admit- 
ted. Doctor  Thomas  did  so,  and  found  them  chairs  in  the  room. 
We  were  requested  to  sing  a  hymn  to  bring  harmony  again  and 
form  the  circle.  While  we  were  singing  a  large  center  table 
walked  over  and  tipped  its  contents  into  the  lap  of  this  medium, 
which  I  think  made  him  more  or  less  timid.  Mr.  Bucklev  said. 


458         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

"Get  up,  Puss,  and  walk  around  the  room  and  you  will  throw  it 
off,  perhaps."  He  got  up  and  immediately  the  large  table  fol- 
lowed him  from  one  parlor  to  the  other.  Air.  Britton  said,  "What 
a  wonderful  demonstration."  The  medium  went  to  Mr.  Buck- 
ley and  said,  "I  want  to  go  home."  Air.  Arnold  said,  "Don't  be 
frightened,  Puss,  it  is  all  right."  Air.  Britton  reached  out  and 
took  the  medium's  hand  and  said,  "Sit  here  and  don't  be  fright- 
ened." The  chair  on  which  they  sat  rocked  to  and  fro  sideways. 
Mr.  Coonley  spoke  and  said,  "I  would  not  have  missed  this  dem- 
onstration for  all  I  have  learned  in  Spiritualism."  There  was 
a  hand  materialized  and  took  hold  of  their  hair  and  pulled  it  so 
severely  that  the  boy  cried  out.  This  was  all  in  gas  light  with 
four  burners  beaming  and  every  one  in  the  room  saw  the  hand 
except  Mr.  Britton  and  the  medium,  who  felt  their  hair  being 
pulled.  Mr.  Buckley  said,  "See  to  it  that  you  do  not  have  this 
advertised  in  any  of  the  papers.  If  you  do  I  shall  never  attend 
any  of  your  circles  again,  as  it  will  hurt  our  business."  He  was 
one  of  the  Buckley  brothers,  of  the  "Buckley  Serenaders."  He 
went  to  the  center  table  and  wrote  out  passes  for  all  to  come 
and  see  the  performance  Monday  night.  \Ye  went  next 
night  and  saw  the  medium  play  the  part  of  Cinderella  in  the 
burlesque  opera.  He  sang,  danced  and  played  beautifully  and 
we  could  see  that  the  members  of  this  company  were  quite  proud 
of  him.  I  afterwards  became  acquainted  with  the  mother  of  the 
Buckley  boys  and  in  conversation  she  said,  "Puss  is  our  little 
mascot  and  we  love  him  very  clearly.  Did  you  know  the  Little 
One  was  a  medium?"  I  said.  "Yes,  I  saw  a  physical  demonstra- 
tion take  place  in  his  presence."  She  said,  "He  receives  many 
beautiful  presents  from  the  public.  In  nature  he  is  only  a  child 
and  always  will  be  so.  Manly  and  womanly  ideas  he  does  not 
seem  to  comprehend."  I  said,  "How  old  is  he?"  She  replied, 
"He  is  thirty  years  of  age."  "Why,"  I  said,  "He  doesn't  look 
over  eighteen."  She  said,  "He  will  always  be  a  child,"  and  then 
shook  her  head  and  said.  "Poor  Little  Puss,  he  had  a  hard  life  of 
it  before  we  got  him." 

I  did  not  see  him  for  a  number  of  years  after  I  left  Boston 
until  I  went  one  afternoon  to  Barnum's  Museum  with  a  number 
of  friends  from  England.  I  discovered  by  the  program  that  he 
was  playing  the  part  of  a  Moorish  boy  in  a  spectacular  play 


EMMA  HARDINGE  BRITTAN  459 

called  "The  Magic  Ring."  He  came  upon  the  stage  with  a  light 
blonde  curly  wig  upon  his  head  and  did  not  look  a  day  over  six- 
teen. He  played  his  part  and  danced  beautifully  on  his  toes  which 
was  really  wonderful.  He  bounded  on  in  one  scene,  stood  on  one 
toe  with  his  other  foot  in  the  air,  which  was  to  me  marvellous. 
I  discovered  that  in  his  profession  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  freak 
of  nature.  Some  dreaded  his  society,  while  others  courted  it  very 
highly.  I  became  acquainted  with  the  stage  manager,  whose 
name  was  Mr.  Mitchell.  He  said,  "The  Little  One  receives  many 
letters  from  the  box  office,  in  the  morning,  which  he  allows  me 
to  read  after  rehearsal  for  the  amusement  of  the  company.  Many 
of  them  are  protestations  of  love,  which  he  laughs  at  as  much 
as  any  of  us.  Mr.  Clifton,  the  manager,  told  me  that  he  lived 
very  frugally  and  plain.  After  returning  from  his  night's  work 
his  supper  would  consist  of  cold  chicken  and  bread,  or  bread  and 
cheese,  or  a  glass  of  beer.  I  believe  the  way  he  lives  is  the  se- 
cret of  his  youthful  appearance."  I  understood  it  otherwise.  It 
was  spirit  protection. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him  perform  was  at  Hooley's  Theatre 
in  Chicago.  He  was  playing  with  a  comedian  whose  name  was 
Hart.  They  played  in  two  comedies  that  evening.  One  was 
called  "Three  O'clock  in  the  Morning,"  and  the  other  "Quiet 
Life."  They  did  as  fine  a  piece  of  comedy  acting  as  I  ever  saw 
on  the  stage.  He  was  much  stouter  than  when  I  saw  him  be- 
fore, but  all  the  vim  and  fire  was  there  in  the  portrayal  of  the 
character.  "\Yhen  the  curtain  fell  the  people  called  for  them. 
The  comedian  came  before  the  curtain  leading  the  medium.  I 
said  to  my  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hall,  who  accompanied  me, 
"That  Little  One  is  a  great  medium  and  some  day  the  Spirit- 
ualists will  hear  through  his  organization  from  the  other  side  of 
life."  Today.  T  am  glad  to  say.  I  was  not  mistaken  and  the 
prediction  came  true.  I  thank  you  kindly,  sir,  for  listening  to 
me  and  1  bid  you  adieu.  Emma  Hardinge  Hrittan. 

Miss  Lees  then  came  and  expressed  her  gratification  that 
Mrs.  Rrittan  came  and  gave  her  knowledge  of  the  medium,  she 
having  come  in  contact  with  him  several  times,  gave  an  em- 
phatic endorsement  of  his  mediumship.  Hut  one  thing  she  did 
not  know,  that  Mr.  ^Yarren  would  not  allow  his  mediumship  to 
become  public. 


Olivia  C.  E.  Stephens 

Chapter  XXXIX 


Saturday,  June  25,  1905. 

Good  morning,  Brother  Hulburd.  No  doubt  you  wonder 
why  I  did  not  return  and  keep  my  appointment.  I  gave  way 
that  others  might  communicate,  as  they  had  closed  the  columns 
of  the  Progressive  Thinker  on  the  question  and  discussion  of 
Obsession.  I  came  today  to  keep  that  appointment  and  will  dis- 
cuss somewhat  on  the  medium's  life.  My  communication  will 
be  among  many  in  your  book.  In  spirit  life,  I  met  the  individ- 
uals who  claimed  to  have  been  the  medium's  physical  mother 
and  father.  Herein,  I  take  the  liberty  of  giving  you  and  the  read- 
ing public,  facts  that  I  have  discovered  through  conversing  with 
his  parents.  I  will  speak  of  his  mother  first  and  deal  with  her 
in  a  truthful  manner.  I  have  read  both  their  characters  through 
the  power  of  spiritual  conditions  that  I  have  found  therein  re- 
lated to  their  physical  and  spiritual  make-up.  The  mother,  hav- 
ing an  impulsive  nature,  lived  a  great  deal  in  the  realm  of  emo- 
tion ;  she  was  an  individual  whose  desire  it  was  to  gratify  all 
her  wishes,  it  was  immaterial  at  whose  cost  they  were  gratified. 
She  came  of  proud,  imperious  blood  and  felt  that  she  was  su- 
perior to  many  in  life,  never  stopping  to  think  to  what  degra- 
dation she  had  fallen.  Her  whole  desire  in  life  was  to  rule  and 
gratify  every  passion  in  her  nature.  Her  name,  while  living  in  a 
physical  body,  was  Mary  Elizabeth  Stuart,  grand  niece  to  Prince 
Charles  Stuart,  in  history  called  "Bonnie  Charley."  She  had 
much  in  her  nature  it  were  better  had  it  been  left  out  and  she 
had  been  permitted  to  earn  her  living  through  daily  labor  in 
plain  life.  He — the  medium — inherited  much  of  her  wild,  pas- 
sionate nature. 

Now    I    will   describe   his   father.      He    was   a    tall    man    and 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  461 

heavily  built.  His  height  was  six  feet  three  inches,  in  his  earth- 
ly form.  He  was  hold,  daring  and  sensitive  withal.  His  reck- 
less nature  made  him  the  victim  of  religious  superstition.  His 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Bruce,  a  descendant  of 
the  Bruce  family  of  Scotland.  A  woman  with  a  daring  nature 
and  one  who  commanded  that  all  should  obey  her  will.  She 
was  a  bigoted  Catholic  of  the  worst  kind,  and  persuaded  her 
son,  Justin  Hulburd,  father  of  the  medium,  to  enter  a  religious 
order.  Her  whole  desire  was  that  one  of  her  sons  should  be- 
come a  Jesuit  priest.  The  medium's  father  was  selected  as  the 
victim.  He  received  the  vows  of  the  order  to  please  his  mother, 
a  worldly  woman  and  an  ambitious  character.  He  thought  he 
loved  the  mother  of  Little  Justin.  It  was  only  a  love  through 
which  many  men  and  women  go  down  to  their  graves  through 
the  idea  it  is  soul  talking  to  soul,  when  it  is  only  a  licentious 
love  talking  through  a  power  of  amorous  ambition. 

On  a  certain  morning  in  June,  when  the  birds  were  singing 
and  the  God  of  Truth  revealed  to  his  soul  the  glories  of  Nature 
in  the  bright  sunshine,  remorse  commenced  to  knock  at  the  door 
of  his  conscience  ;  with  her  walked  in  the  law  of  Reason.  Then  he 
made  the  discovery  that  he  was  a  liar,  a  hypocrite  and  a  villain 
to  remain  in  such  a  religious  order.  His  heart  yearned  for  she 
whom  he  thought  loved  him.  In  his*  heart  he  cursed  his  mother 
for  playing  the  worldly  part  she  did.  A  desire  came  into  his 
nature  through  which  his  will  power  became  aroused.  He  must 
find  the  woman  he  thought  lie  loved,  carry  her  off  to  another 
land  where  he  might  revel  in  the  luxury  of  owning  her.  soul 
and  body,  as  he  thought.  They  made  three  attempts  to  escape 
in  each  other's  company.  The  third  time,  he  made  arrange- 
ments to  embark  on  a  sailing  vessel  for  England,  and  from  there 
sail  to  America.  They  had  reached  the  little  city  of  Perth,  when 
the  mother  was  taken  violently  sick— the  labor  pains  had  set  in 
and  he  had  her  conveyed  to  the  lodge  of  a  graveyard  :  there  she 
gave  birth  to  a  wee  mite  of  a  creature,  whom  she  tried  to  destroy 
in  the  womb,  but  failed.  The  child  was  taken  away  and  adopted 
by  her  cousin.  Then  the  lather  and  mother  tried  to  reach  nun- 
dee,  where  they  could  meet  the  open  sea.  The  Jesuit  hounds 
were  on  their  track.  They  seixed  him  as  he  was  about  to  em- 
bark for  Kngland.  He  was  brought  back,  where  they  adminis- 


462         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

tered  poison  in  his  food  and  he  died  a  horrible  death.  Such  is 
the  tale  they  gave  to  me.  Before  death  came  he  murdered  three 
of  the  inmates  of  the  monastery.  His  nature  was  made  up  of 
reckless  daring.  He  was  more  fit  for  a  pirate  than  a  priest. 
There  are  two  classes  of  pirates — a  murderer  and  a  red-handed 
villain  is  a  sea  pirate  ;  a  Jesuit  priest,  a  hypocrite,  liar  and  thief 
of  the  poor  people's  wealth,  is  a  land  pirate. 

Little  Justin  inherits  his  violent  temper  from  such  natures. 
His  spirit  guides  have  taught  him  to  live  it  down  to  a  great 
extent.  He  is  calm  now  in  disposition  to  what  he  was  when  I 
first  made  his  acquaintance. 

He  had  more  nicknames  than  any  individual  I  ever  knew. 
The  Quakers  called  him  the  "Dreamer,"  or  the  individual  with 
two  natures.  Prof.  Bartlett  called  him  the  "Gleaner  of  Thought." 
Mrs.  Jennie  Johnson  said  he  was  the  boy  who  lived  between  two 
worlds.  James  G.  Elaine  called  him  "Spitfire."  His  foster  fa- 
ther said,  "He  went  the  way  of  the  winds,  hither  and  thither." 
Doctor  Campbell  called  him  "The  Servant  of  the  Spirit  World." 
Mrs.  John  Drew  said,  "He  was  born  for  the  stage."  Prof.  Blake 
said,  "He  was  the  echo  of  invisible  voices."  Edwin  Forrest,  the 
actor,  called  him  "Little  Toots."  Joseph  Jefferson  named  him 
"Puss,"  and  I  called  him  "My  shock-haired  boy."  He  became 
the  hero  of  one  of  my  stories.  Maria  Lydia  Child  called  him 
"The  second  sight  individual."  Lucretia  Mott  spoke  of  him  as 
the  "Bearer  of  messages  from  the  spirit  side  of  life." 

To  me  his  whole  nature  seemed  to  be  that  of  sensitive  emo- 
tion. When  he  became  angry  a  spray  of  oaths  would  come  from 
his  organ  of  speech  that  would  make  me  tremble.  I  discovered 
in  his  nature  lay  a  great  love  for  animals.  He  could  not  bear 
to  see  one  animal  abuse  another.  He'd  always  defend  the  small- 
er and  fight  for  it.  I  remember  on  one  occasion,  while  visiting 
at  his  home,  many  guests  sat  on  the  veranda  looking  down  tow- 
ard the  ocean.  On  the  lawn  was  an  old  clog  resting  under  a 
large  tree  and  looking  up  at  us  guests.  After  awhile  a  vicious 
dog  came  up  the  carriage  drive  from  the  Avenue,  walked  across 
the  lawn  to  where  this  old  dog  was  lying  under  the  tree :  he 
growled  and  snapped  at  the  old  dog,  and  finally  bit  his  ear. 
That  was  more  than  Justin  could  stand.  He  grabbed  Mr. 
[Maine's  hat,  jumped  over  his  foster  father  and  commenced  to 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  463 

yell  like  an  Indian  ;  he  rushed  at  the  strange  dog  and  beat  him 
with  Mr.  Elaine's  hat,  driving  him  from  the  lawn  and  down  the 
carriage  drive,  then  he  came  back,  sat  down  and  took  the  old 
dog's  head  in  his  lap,  wrapped  his  handkerchief  around  his  bleed- 
ing ear  and  commenced  to  cry,  saying,  ''Poor  old  Bob,  who  is  so 
kind  and  good."  All  of  a  sudden  he  looked  up  at  us  on  the 
veranda,  crying  out,  "Damn  some  of  you,  if  you  don't  get  me 
some  warm  water  to  wash  this  dog's  ear  I'll  raise  hell,  and 
right  now,  too."  You  can  warrant  water  was  brought  him,  and 
pretty  quick.  He  washed  the  dog's  ear  and  the  blood  from  off 
his  face.  After  he  had  done  so  he  picked  up  Mr.  Blaine's  hat: 
it  was  torn  in  pieces :  he  threw  it  toward  Mr.  Blaine,  saying, 
"James,  there's  what's  left  of  it."  I  wish  you  could  have  heard 
the  shouting  and  laughing  of  the  guests  present.  Pie  did  every- 
thing on  the  impulse  of  the  moment.  A  Doctor  'fuller  spoke 
up  and  said,  "I  have  two  friends  here  who  lived  in  the  hopes  of 
having  an  interview  with  Little  Justin.  I  did  not  expect  we 
should  witness  a  dog  fight."  Justin  laid  down  with  the  old  dog 
in  his  arms  and  went  to  sleep.  His  foster  father  said,  "Friends, 
he  will  wake  up  pretty  soon  :  his  affection  and  regard  for'  that 
old  dog  is  wonderful :  the  mangy  old  cur  followed  him  home  one 
day  from  town  and  has  remained  here  ever  since.  If  Justin 
lived  home  the  largest  part  of  the  year  we'd  have  a  dog  farm." 
Three  days  after  the  dog  affair  there  were  sitting  on  the 
front  veranda.  Justin's  foster  father.  Dr.  Pierce  and  wife,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Wells.  Mrs.  Jennie  Johnson.  Prof.  Blake.  Mr.  Chase. 
Mr.  Blaine  and  a  banker  from  Xew  York,  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten — I  think  it  was  Powell :  Dr.  Tuller  and  myself.  While 
we  were  sitting  there  and  conversing  about  spiritual  affairs,  Wm. 
Henry  Downing,  with  Mr.  Dana  of  Xew  York,  a  newspaper 
man,  came  walking  up  the  lawn  to  where  we  were  sitting.  Mr. 
Dana  said,  "Justin.  I  have  a  friend  of  mine  from  Australia.  He 
tells  me  that  your  astral  appeared  at  a  seance  in  Melbourne, 
Australia."  Justin  received  the  introduction,  then  introduced 
the  friends  to  the  guests  present  on  that  occasion.  I  noticed 
Doctor  Tuller  looked  at  the  strange  gentleman  from  Australia 
and  said.  "Haven't  I  met  you  before?"  The  gentleman  laughed 
and  said.  "Yes.  Doctor.  1  think  you  have.  I  was  under  your 
tuition  for  two  years  in  (  >herlin.  (  Miio."  That  pleased  Doctor 


464        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Tuller  to  meet  one  of  his  old  pupils.  They  were  shown  to  seats 
on  the  veranda.  Justin  sat  on  the  steps,  held  his  head  in  his 
hands  and  said,  ''Darn  that  other  self,  it  is  always  going  around 
and  entering  other  people's  homes  where  it  ain't  wanted."  Just 
then  he  jumped  up  and  held  his  arms  above  his  head,  looking 
away  off,  as  it  were,  when  he  said,  "Poor  fellowT,  he's  obsessed." 
He  turned  around  to  the  guests  and  said,  ''He's  coming  here ; 
see  that  you  treat  him  kindly ;  his  mind  is  obsessed  and  racked 
to  the  utmost  by  that  evil  spirit."  He  walked  across  the  gravel 
walk  and  threw  himself  down  on  the  grass,  saying,  "I  will  wait 
his  coming  here."  All  of  a  sudden  a  peculiar  feeling  passed 
over  me  and  I  said,  "Friends,  let  us  sing;  there  is  a  peculiar 
feeling  to  me  in  the  atmosphere."  We  sang,  "Nearer,  My  God, 
to  Thee."  Then  Justin  went  under  a  beautiful  influence.  Oh, 
it  was  so  beautiful,  I  cried  for  joy.  The  influence  said,  "Friends 
of  earth,  I  come  to  plead  for  my  brother,  who  is  obsessed  by  an 
evil  spirit.  I  know  you  will  help  me,  as  I  find  here  in  your  midst 
a  loving  spirit  of  Truth.  You  all  believe  in  the  God  of  Nature 
and  the  great  manifestations  that  God  has  shown  to  you,  in  the 
beautiful  flowers  and  trees,  birds  of  the  air  and  beasts  of  the 
field.  Above  all,  the  intellect  of  his  children,  has  been  a  mani 
festation  to  your  souls.  My  unhappy  brother  is  on  his  way  now 
and  they  will  guide  him  to  this  home.  Sing  for  me."  We  com- 
menced to  sing.  The  influence  left  Justin.  About  five  minutes 
afterward  he  was  controlled  by  an  Indian  spirit  who  performed 
a  war  dance,  then  he  threw  himself  on  the  ground  and  crawled 
around  on  the  grass  like  a  snake,  hissing  all  the  time.  He 
jumped  to  his  feet,  struck  his  breast  several  violent  blows.  "Me 
Hissing  Snake;  me  come  to  help  white  brother;  me  make  him 
good."  Then  he  left  Justin.  Justin  went  over  and  laid  down 
under  the  tree,  passing  into  a  quiet  sleep.  I  said,  "Friends,  there 
is  work  coming  and  we  must  lend  our  assistance.  Let  us  give 
it  with  the  love  of  our  souls.  Let  us  sing."  While  we  were 
singing  Justin  jumped  to  his  feet,  screaming  out,  "He  is  com- 
ing." In  a  few  minutes  we  discovered  an  individual  coming 
through  the  orchard.  He  seemed  to  be  skulking  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  When  he  got  where  he  could  see  us  he  drew  his  hat 
down  over  his  face,  then  walked  on  his  hands  and  feet.  In  front 
of  the  barn  he  made  a  peculiar  noise.  Justin  walked  up  to  where 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  465 

he  stood,  took  him  by  the  hand,  led  him  up  in  front  of  the 
dwelling  and  said  in  a  commanding  voice,  "See  that  you  bring 
me  a  chair  for  the  honored  guest."  One  of  the  guests  stepped 
in  through  the  French  window,  coming  back  with  a  chair,  plac- 
ing it  on  the  gravel  walk  in  front  of  the  house.  Justin  told  the 
man  to  be  seated,  in  a  commanding  voice.  As  he  took  his  seat 
I  discovered  his  garments  were  those  of  a  clergyman,  his  coat 
was  buttoned  up  to  the  throat,  showing  only  a  white  collar. 
Then  Justin  asked  us  to  sing.  AYhile  we  were  singing  the 
"Sweet  Bye  and  Bye"  the  strange  man  attempted  to  bite  Jus- 
tin's hands.  Several  of  the  gentlemen  present  ran  down  the 
steps,  caught  hold  of  the  man,  and  held  him  down  on  the  chair. 
He  cursed  and  swore  in  a  dreadful  manner  and  said  he  would 
kill  us  all  if  we  did  not  let  him  go.  That  beautiful  influence, 
that  controlled  Justin  before,  spoke  again,  saying,  "Friends, 
dear  friends,  help  my  brother  and  drive  that  wicked  influence 
away.  If  it  is  not  broken  he  will  become  an  inmate  of  a  mad 
house :  let  us,  dear  friends,  centre  on  him  our  soul  thoughts." 
Then  she  delivered  a  beautiful  prayer,  such  as  1  never  heard  be- 
fore. She  prayed  to  the  angels  of  mercy  to  come  and  assist  her 
brother  and  drive  forth  that  demon  that  had  possession  of  his 
mental  faculties. 

The  gentleman  from  Australia  stood  up  and  praved  for  that 
great  spirit  power  to  come  and  aid  them  in  this  case  of  afflic- 
tion and  drive  forth  that  wicked  spirit.  \\  e  all  assisted  him  in 
silent  prayer.  Justin  was  controlled  by  "Hissing  Snake,"  who 
worked  over  the  man.  In  time  the  influence  commenced  to  grow 
less  and  less  in  power  over  his  victim.  After  "Hissing  Snake" 
had  worked  over  him  for  about  two  hours  the  obsessing  spirit 
gave  way  and  the  man  was  released  and  came  back  to  freedom. 
He  said  he  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller.  (  )n  several  occasions  in 
his  library  he  saw  the  wicked  spirit  before  he  got  possession  of 
his  mentality.  lie  remained  at  Justin's  home  two  days.  On  the 
evening  of  the  second  day  we  held  a  circle  for  his  benefit,  lie 
was  controlled  by  the  beautiful  spirit  of  his  sister,  who  thanked 
us  tor  all  our  kindness,  shown  to  her  brother.  "It  will  not  go 
unrewarded,  the  Spirit  of  Love  will  enter  into  each  of  your 
homes.  May  the  blessings  of  the  angels  rest  with  \ '<  >n  in  peace 
forever." 


466        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Tuesday,  June  27,  1905. 

Good  morning,  brother.  Now  we  will  take  up  Justin's  life. 
During  one  of  my  visits  to  Philadelphia  I  received  an  invitation 
from  Doctor  Van  Ame  to  attend  a  materializing  seance  at  his 
home  on  the  following  afternoon.  He  lived  on  Cherry  street 
between  Ninth  and  Tenth.  I  will  endeavor  to  give  you  the 
names  as  I  remember  them.  There  were  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pem- 
berton,  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wellington,  Prof.  Coonley  and  wife, 
Prof.  Blake  and  wife,  a  Dr.  Chalmers,  a  Miss  Bullene,  a  Dr. 
Child,  a  Dr.  Simpson,  a  Dr.  Hassenplug,  Justin,  your  medium,  a 
Mrs.  Carlton,  Mrs.  Case  and  myself.  This  Mrs.  Carlton  was 
an  English  woman  and  said  she  was  a  powerful  materializing 
medium,  so  she  informed  Dr.  Van  Ame.  The  circle  was  given 
on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  month  of  March,  1875.  The  date 
of  the  month  I  do  not  remember,  but  it  was  about  the  middle  of 
the  month.  Doctor  Van  Ame  had  hung  a  black  curtain  across 
one  end  of  the  back  parlor.  While  sitting  in  the  front  parlor  I 
noticed  that  woman  kept  looking  at  Justin  more  than  ordinary, 
I  thought.  Finally  she  crossed  the  room  and  asked  me  to  change 
seats  with  her,  as  she  wished  to  sit  next  to  Justin.  I  thought 
she  acted  quite  friendly  on  such  short  acquaintance.  She  held 
conversation  more  with  Justin  and  Prof.  Coonley  than  any  of 
the  other  guests  present.  Dr.  Van  Ame  said,  "Now  we  will 
form  the  circle,"  and  asked  the  woman  to  set  the  people  to  suit 
herself.  She  did  so.  She  placed  Justin  right  next  to  the  cur- 
tain. Prof.  Coonley  and  his  wife  next  to  Justin  and  the  other 
guests  as  she  thought  it  was  best  for  her  to  do  so.  The  circle 
was  formed  in  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  Dr.  Van  Ame  being  at 
the  other  end  of  the  circle.  She  sat  down  on  a  chair  outside  of 
the  curtain  and  requested  us  to  sing.  We  did  so.  After  we  had 
finished  singing  she  stood  up  and  gave  us  quite  a  history  of  her 
materializing,  telling  us  she  was  an  English  woman  and  held 
circles  at  Buckingham  Palace  for  Queen  Victoria  and  her  fam- 
ily and  manv  other  noted  houses  in  England.  She  said  that 
Ewalt  Gladstone  thought  she  was  the  most  perfect  medium  he 
had  ever  met.  1  thought  she  was  sounding  her  own  praises  too 
much  to  suit  me.  She  bad  Dr.  Van  Ame  draw  the  folding  doors 
together  and  darken  the  windows  in  order  that  no  ray  of  light 
should  enter  the  room.  There  was  a  lighted  lamp  on  a  small 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  467 

table  in  the  corner  of  the  room.     She  placed  a  shade  over  that 
lamp,  which  made  the  light  quite  dim. 

There  was  one  guest's  name  that  I  forgot  to  mention — 
Jonathan  Roberts,  the  publisher  of  "Mind  and  Matter."  I  do 
not  think  at  this  time  he  had  commenced  to  publish  the  paper. 
He  sat  next  to  me  in  the  circle.  After  she  had  finished  expatiating 
on  her  great  powers  and  describing  the  wonderful  materializa- 
tions that  had  been  produced  through  her  mediumship,  Mr.  Rob- 
erts whispered  to  me,  "I  do  not  like  the  look  on  Puss'  face  to- 
day. I  think  there  is  some  ill  brewing.  I  cannot  tell  you  the 
reason  why,  I  only  feel  it."  As  she  was  about  to  go  behind  the 
curtain  she  asked  us  to  sing.  We  did  so.  I  noticed  as  she  stood 
there  how  broad  she  looked  across  the  hips.  In  about  five  min- 
utes after  she  had  passed  behind  the  curtain  Dr.  Van  Ame  set 
the  music  box  going — which  was  a  very  fine  one.  It  sat  on  top 
of  the  piano  in  the  back  parlor.  Others  as  well  as  myself  noticed 
that  the  music  box  would  rise  from  the  piano  as  much,  perhaps, 
as  eight  or  ten  inches  and  remain  in  space  for  several  seconds. 
All  of  a  sudden  we  heard  a  deep,  masculine  voice — as  we  thought 
— come  from  behind  the  curtain.  It  said,  ''Friends,  keep  per- 
fectly quiet ;  a  spirit  will  now  move  in  your  midst."  An  old, 
humpbacked  woman  walked  out  and  looked  at  the  circle.  She 
said  nothing  to  anyone  present,  but  coughed  quite  hard,  then 
passed  behind  the  curtain.  In  about  ten  minutes  the  same  mas- 
culine voice  said,  "Xow  friends,  keep  perfectlv  quiet ;  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scotland,  will  come  in  your  midst ;  do  not  touch  her 
dress  or  she  will  dematerialize  instantly,  and  will  injure  the  me- 
dium. \Yind  up  the  music  box  again  and  .set  it  going."  Dr. 
Van  Ame  did  so.  \Yhile  the  music  box  was  going  we  heard  the 
rustling  of  a  dress  or  something  inside  the  curtain.  "Turn  down 
the  lamp  a  little  lower  and  she  will  appear  before  you  in  her 
royal  robes."  As  she  was  about  to  come  out  Justin  in  some  way 
got  his  hand  behind  the  curtain,  caught  hold  of  the  Oueen's  dress 
and  as  she  was  about  to  come  out  she  had  to  do  some  tugging. 
\Ye  heard  her  say.  "Damn  it.  what's  the  matter?"  T  judge  she 
gave  one  tug  to  free  herself  and  fell  against  the  curtain.  Down 
came  the  curtain  and  her  mval  highness  onto  the  floor.  Dr. 
Van  A  me  turned  up  the  light,  and  such  a  picture!  ft  was  com- 
ical enough  for  a  pantomime.  There  sat  lu.-tiu  on  the  rloor. 


468         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

holding  onto  the  queen's  train  and  a  grin  on  his  face  that  would 
have  served  the  purpose  of  any  circus  clown  to  make  the  children 
laugh.  The  Queen  had  got  mixed  up  in  the  curtain  and  was 
swearing  at  Justin,  calling  him  a  damn  brat  of  an  idiot.  "If  you 
had  let  me  alone  I'd  have  shown  some  powerful  materializations 
here  today."  Prof.  Coonley  dragged  down  a  shawl  from  a  back 
window  and  let  in  some  daylight.  The  Queen  got  up  and  stood 
on  her  feet,  in  an  old  dirty  pink  floss  skirt,  of  very  light  weight, 
a  royal  shoulder  train  of  thin  scarlet  satin,  without  any  lining, 
and  a  red  wig  on  her  head.  On  the  floor,  in  front  of  her,  was  a 
gilt  paper  crown  with  some  imitation  jewels  fastened  on  it.  Here 
and  there  was  illuminated  paint.  In  the  corner  laid  her  skeleton 
bustle  that  she  used  for  a  wardrobe  trunk.  As  she  stood  there, 
she  was  not  quite  so  broad  across  the  hips  as  she  was  previous 
to  going  behind  the  curtain.  All  the  Scotch  blood  had  come  to 
Mary's  eyes  and  she  was  furious ;  she  laid  us  out  for  a  low  lot 
of  mean  Yankees.  Dr.  Van  Ame  commanded  her  to  leave  the 
house,  as  a  villain  of  the  worst  kind.  She  said,  "There  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  genuine  materialization.  All  those  who  pose  as  ma- 
terializing mediums  are  frauds  and  spiritualism  is  only  a  hum- 
bug, anyhow.''  I  said,  "Madam,  you  are  mistaken  :  I  have  seen 
the  spirit  materialize  and  dematerialize."  She  said  it  was  a  lie  ; 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  materialization,  and  all  spiritualists 
were  half  idiots.  Just  then  some  of  the  women  caught  hold  of 
her,  tore  the  Queen's  robes  off  her  and  there  she  stood,  with 
nothing  but  a  petticoat  and  a  light  waist  on.  Dr.  Van  Ame  or- 
dered her  to  put  on  her  street  dress  and  leave  the  house.  "Be- 
fore doing  so.  you  will  return  the  money  to  my  friends  that  you 
have  received  for  admission  fee."  She  did  so,  then  they  hustled 
her  into  the  street,  leaving  behind  her  the  queenly  robes,  bustle 
and  crown.  After  the  guests  had  quieted  down  and  the  street 
door  was  locked.  Miss  I.ullene  was  controlled  by  an  influence 
who  said,  "That  woman  who  has  just  left  the  house  is  obsessed. 
She  is  in  the  power  of  a  strolling  actress  who  lived  in  England. 
That  strolling  actress'  name,  when  living  in  the  physical  body, 
was  fane  Hathaway,  who  became  a  notorious  drunkard  before 
she  left  the  physical  body.  Xow.  friends,  if  you  will  form  a 
circle,  remove  the  lamp  from  the  table,  place  the  table  in  the 
centre  of  the  circle,  darken  the  rooms  and  sing  I  think  vou  will 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  469 

get  some  physical  demonstrations.  All  those  in  the  circle  are 
mediumistic.  Now,  let  us  sing."  Prof.  Coonley  said,  "Before 
we  sing,  friends,  allow  me  to  offer  up  an  invocation  to  the  angel 
world,  hoping  they  will  surround  us  with  harmony."  He  gave 
us  a  beautiful  invocation,  after  which  the  circle  sang  "Nearer, 
My  God,  to  Thee."  After  we  had  finished  singing  Mr.  Roberts 
said,  "I  have  received  a  strong  impression  that  if  Puss  will  sit 
on  top  of  that  table  we  will  get  a  demonstration  of  some  kind. 
Come  here,  Puss,  and  let  me  place  you  on  the  table."  Just  then 
Puss  made  a  spring  and  landed  on  top  of  the  table,  which  was 
the  cause  of  great  laughter.  The  music  box  was  wound  up 
again,  placed  on  top  of  the  piano  and  set  going.  Justin  com- 
menced to  give  an  invocation  and  of  all  the  ridiculous  stuff  that 
I  ever  listened  to  was  given  through  his  organ  of  speech  on  that 
occasion.  The  music  box  floated  through  space  over  the  heads 
of  the  sitters  and  rested  on  Justin's  lap.  It  kept  playing  all  the 
time.  A  voice  said,  through  Miss  Bullene,  "There  is  a  strong 
spiritual  power  here  this  afternoon.  Keep  perfectly  quiet,  friends, 
and  remain  in  the  passive  state.  You  will  behold  something  that 
will  open  your  eyes  with  wonder  on  this  occasion."  In  about 
ten  minutes,  possibly  more,  the  table  with  Justin  and  the  music 
box  commenced  to  rise  from  the  floor,  I  should  think  as  much 
as  five  feet.  It  was  held  there  in  space  for  several  minutes,  then 
it  floated  over  the  heads  of  the  sitters,  came  down  and  rested  in 
the  corner  where  it  stood  when  the  lamp  was  on  it.  We  all  pro- 
claimed in  one  voice,  as  it  seemed,  "That  is  the  most  wonderful 
physical  demonstration  I  ever  saw  in  my  life."  The  raps  came 
all  over  the  piano.  The  voice  through  Miss  Bullene  said,  "There 
is  so  much  spirit  power  here  this  afternoon  we  could  almost  do 
anything  in  the  way  of  physical  demonstrations."  A  guitar  that 
hung  on  the  wall  came  down  and  was  laid  in  Mrs.  Coonley's  lap. 
On  the  way  from  the  wall  the  strings  were  fingered  by  some  in- 
visible hand  that  we  did  not  see.  The  voice  said,  "We  have 
taxed  your  strength  sufficiently  for  this  afternoon,  hoping  the 
same  circle  will  meet  again." 

You  see,  dear  readers,  we  sat  in  a  grand  circle  after  all  and 
the  manifestations  were  beautiful.  When  the  friends  were  part- 
ing Mr.  Roberts  said,  "I  would  like  to  have  you  all  meet  in  my 
home  next  Thursday  night.  I  will  pay  all  railroad  expenses  and 


470         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

take  care  of  you  while  at  my  home."  A  number  of  us  went — 
not  all — Justin  told  Mr.  Roberts  he  could  not  go,  as  his  profes- 
sion demanded  his  presence  in  the  evening.  The  demonstra- 
tions were  only  fair  on  that  occasion. 

In  the  month  of  August,  Mrs.  Case  and  myself  made  a  visit 
to  Justin's  home.  She  remained  only  one  night  and  part  of  a 
day.  I  remained  five  days.  His  foster  father  told  me  that  Justin 
was  the  most  peculiar  child  he  ever  met.  He  informed  me  that, 
on  several  occasions,  while  living  in  Scotland,  the  people  thought 
he  was,  truly,  an  imp  of  the  devil  and  as  wild  as  a  deer  on  the 
mountain.  He  had  two  companions — a  large  dog,  part  Mastiff 
and  part  St.  Bernard ;  the  other  was  a  pet  deer.  He  and  his  two 
companions  would  go  off  to  the  hills  and  remain  there  for  two 
and  three  days  at  a  time.  His  old  grandmother  used  to  pray 
to  the  Lord  that  he'd  never  return,  as  he  was  a  source  of  trou- 
ble to  her.  When  he  was  at  home,  his  foster  father  says,  there 
never  was  a  day  that  passed  that  he  didn't  play  a  trick  upon 
her;  just  as  sure  as  the  sun  arose  in  the  morning,  he  and  his 
grandmother  got  into  some  kind  of  a  squabble.  She  told  him 
he  was  fit  to  live  with  the  devil  and  the  gypsies.  At  one  time 
he  went  off  with  a  band  of  gypsies ;  three  weeks  afterward,  his 
grandfather  received  information  that  he  was  seen  with  those 
strolling  gypsies  and  where  they  were  located.  His  grandfather 
went  after  him  and  brought  him  home.  At  another  time,  his 
foster  father  says,  he  went  off  with  a  circus.  After  his  foster 
father  brought  him  to  America,  he  took  to  preaching  in  the 
streets  as  soon  as  he  had  learned  some  English.  He  tells  me 
that  one  clay  he  entered  a  church  while  the  congregation  was 
assembling.  He  climbed  up  to  the  pulpit  and  commenced  to 
preach  to  the  people.  He  said,  "There  is  no  personal  God,  nei- 
ther is  there  a  personal  devil,  but  you're  all  chuck  full  of  hell." 
Just  then  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pease  caught  hold  of  him  and  walked 
him  out  of  the  church.  In  front  of  the  church  he  commenced  to 
dance  the  Highland  Fling  and  yell  like  a  fiend  or  a  demon.  Some 
one  went  out  and  got  a  policeman  ;  he  was  arrested  and  taken 
to  the  station  house  ;  there  he  prayed  for  the  policeman  and  the 
brass  buttons  on  his  coat.  The  Chief  of  Police  said  he  was 
either  crazy  or  possessed  of  a  devil.  His  foster  father  was  sent 
for.  He  was  so  angry  he  whipped  him  in  the  station  house. 


OLIVIA  C.  E.  STEPHENS  471 

After  he  had  whipped  him,  Little  Justin  sprang  onto  his  back, 
he  said,  and  hollered  three  cheers  for  the  Fourth  of  July,  George 
Washington  and  the  nice  looking  policemen,  especially  that  big 
fat  duffer  sitting  up  there,  meaning  the  Chief  of  Police.  Mr.  Puller 
became  so  angry  he  dragged  him  by  the  hair  of  the  head  to  the 
carriage,  closed  the  door  and  told  the  coachman  to  drive  off. 
"When  we  got  home,"  his  father  said,  "I  tied  him  to  the  bed 
post  and  lashed  him  with  the  carriage  whip.  It  was  no  use," 
the  old  man  said,  crying,  "we  could  not  do  anything  with  him. 
Reforming  was  out  of  the  question.  I  went  in  about  an  hour 
afterward  to  the  room  ;  he  was  gone  ;  the  rope  laid  on  the  window 
sill;  he  had  slid  down  the  water  pipe  to  the  ground.  \Ye  did  not 
see  him  for  six  days  afterward.  The  next  time  I  found  him  in 
a  cellar  praying  to  the  negroes  and  calling  clown  the  blessings 
of  the  angels  on  them.  When  he  had  finished  his  prayer,  I  made 
a  grab  for  him  ;  he  eluded  my  grasp,  bolted  through  a  back  cel- 
lar window,  climbed  the  fence  and  was  gone,  I  knew  not  where. 
The  housekeeper  told  me  he  came  home  one  afternoon  all  in 
rags,  nothing  on  his  head.  She  said,  '\Yhere  have  you  been  all 
this  time?'  He  told  her  he'd  been  on  a  dandy  picnic.  'Don't 
you  think  I  look  sweet?'  She  marched  him  to  the  bath  room 
and  gave  him  a  good  bath,  put  clean  clothes  on  him  in  order 
that  he  might  be  presentable  when  I  came  home  from  business. 
When  the  family  assembled  in  the  dining  room  he  walked  in 
and  stood  by  his  chair.  I  said,  'Well,  where  have  you  been?' 
He  said,  'With  the  angels.'  That  set  the  children  to  laughing, 
while  his  poor  foster  mother  was  crying.  After  dinner  his  foster 
mother  had  the  family  assembled  in  the  parlor;  then  she  prayed 
over  him.  While  their  heads  were  all  bowed  in  praver,  he 
pinned  his  foster  mother's  dress  to  her  eldest  daughter's  dress. 
When  the  mother  had  finished  praying  he  said.  'Oh  Lord,  have 
mercy  on  the  sinners  of  this  house  ;  they  don't  know  when  it's 
time  to  go  fishing.'  jumped  to  his  feet,  sprang  out  of  the  win- 
dow and,"  the  old  man  said,  "we  didn't  see  him  for  several  day-. 
I  found  whipping  was  no  good — it  had  no  effect  upon  him.  As 
my  wife  and  eldest  daughter  arose  to  their  feet,  they  discovered 
they  could  not  reach  their  chairs.  On  examination  they  found 
he  had  pinned  their  dresses  together.  The  housekeeper  said. 
'Poor  child,  he  belongs  to  the  devil  ;  his  great-aunt  was  burned 


472         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

for  being  a  witch.  May  the  dear  Saviour  protect  this  house  from 
getting  on  fire.'  "  The  old  man  then  said,  "When  he  became 
ten  years  of  age,  some  one  discovered  he  had  talent  and  placed 
him  on  the  stage.  I  think  that  was  the  best  thing  they  could 
have  done ;  those  influences  took  possession  of  his  little  body 
wrhen  he  was  only  three  years  of  age.  Coming  to  America  dur- 
ing a  terrible  storm,  he  climbed  up  the  rigging  as  high  as  he 
could  go.  It  was  a  dreadful  storm  ;  there  he  sat  and  laughed 
in  glee  and  when  the  lightning  flashed,  he  screamed  like  a  demon. 
My  captain  and  officers  trembled  for  his  safety.  It  was  my  own 
ship,  good  lady,  that  we  came  over  in."  Then  the  old  man 
caught  hold  of  my  hand  and  held  it  in  his,  saying,  "Dear  lady, 
it  would  take  months  to  tell  you  of  his  wild  life.  He  never  was 
sane  like  other  people.  "Why  managers  pay  him  such  a  large 
salary,  I  cannot  tell.  I  never  attended  any  theatre  where  he 
played,  as  I  was  always  afraid  he'd  do  something  out  of  the 
common.  He  never  seemed  to  do  anything  right  to  suit  me — 
possibly  I  am  prejudiced  against  him — that  is  the  way  it  has 
always  looked.  How  Mr.  Warren  could  stand  his  antics  for  so 
many  years  I  cannot  tell.  He  left  the  Little  One  well  provided 
for.  All  the  money  and  property  has  passed  from  him.  In  his 
profession,  some  people  are  afraid  of  him  ;  they  think  he  can 
bring  an  affliction  upon  them :  as  to  that,  lady,  I  cannot 
tell — he  has  always  lived  under  an  influence  of  some  kind.  Men 
in  high  positions  in  life  seemed  to  become  fascinated  with  his 
ways ;  they  entertain  him  to  receive,  as  they  call  it,  'communi- 
cations from  the  other  side  of  life.'  '  Dear  brother  Hulburd, 
that  is  what  the  old  man  told  me.  I  thank  you  for  taking  down 
my  communication  and  hope  it  will  hold  a  place  in  your  book. 
What  Mr.  Puller,  Justin's  foster  father,  told  me  as  above,  oc- 
curred long  before  the  time  of  the  Fox  sisters.  Justin  went 
upon  the  stage  ten  years  before  the  rappings  at  Hydesville. 
Good  day.  Olivia  C.  E.  Stephens. 


Mary  C.  Morse 

Chapter  XL 


Saturday,  May  7,  1904. 

Good  morning,  brother  Hulburd.  I  think  the  mornings  are 
so  lovely  now  it  invites  one  to  go  forth  and  ramble  through  the 
woods.  I  was  here  yesterday  but  Rosa  said  the  medium  was 
too  weak  for  his  organ  of  speech  to  be  controlled.  To  look  at 
him,  who  would  ever  think  that  his  physical  body  suffered  so 
much.  He  has  such  a  happy,  genial  nature  no  one  would  detect 
that  he  was  suffering.  It  is  only  when  his  eyes  glisten  that  you 
know  he  is  suffering. 

I  came  on  an  important  errand  and  that  errand  is  to  con- 
gratulate the  Spiritualists  of  San  Diego  in  being  so  fortunate  as 
to  erect  a  Spiritual  Temple.  How  happy  they  must  all  feel  when 
they  enter  the  building,  saying  to  themselves,  "This  is  ours. 
Here  we  can  listen  (rap)  to  the  ministering  spirits  that  come  en 
rapport  with  our  mediums."  How  glad  I  was  to  know  that  so 
many  joyful  souls  were  to  take  part  in  the  dedication  of  the 
Temple.  Mrs.  Bushyhead  hugged  me  with  all  her  power,  say- 
ing, "Sister  Morse,  my  wish  has  been  granted  at  last.  I  am  a 
happy  spirit  today."  It  pleased  me  much  to  know  that  it  made 
her  so  happy.  When  living  in  the  physical  body  she  was  a  great 
worker  in  the  cause  of  Spiritualism.  Her  door  was  always  open 
to  the  friends  of  that  philosophy.  Her  purse  quite  frequently 
became  empty,  as  she  gave  to  the  need}'.  She  was  a  woman  that 
had  nothing  stingy  in  her  nature.  It  was  impossible,  as  she  was 
always  giving  to  others. 

I  low  beautiful  it  was  to  witness  the  happiness  of  the  sisters 
and  brothers  on  the  dedication  day.  How  grandly  and  nobly 
the  sisters  worked  to  prepare  everything  for  that  occasion.  The 
angels  will  bless  them  for  it.  1  was  proud  to  see  the  manly  faces 


474         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

and  hearts  of  the  brothers  softened  by  love  to  the  human  race. 

I  will  mention  one,  as  he  deserves  it.  The  "Pilgrim"  who 
has  worked  long  and  fought  for  the  glorious  cause  of  Spiritu- 
alism, both  with  pen  and  tongue.  His  name  shall  go  down 
through  the  ages  and  the  coming  races  will  speak  his  name  with 
reverence.  Brother  Peebles  was  a  precious  jewel  on  that  occa- 
sion. The  lustre  of  the  gem  found  the  hearts  of  all  who  were 
there  to  listen. 

The  gentle  and  loving  sisters  expressed  themselves  beauti- 
fully on  that  occasion,  for  they  knew  they  were  working  in  a 
holy  cause.  The  brothers,  in  all  the  vigor  of  their  manhood, 
spake  words  of  wisdom  that  harmonized  with  the  sentiments  of 
their  sisters.  All  is  recorded  on  the  spirit  side  of  life,  every- 
thing that  is  said  and  done  for  the  cause  of  Truth  is  entered  in  a 
book  of  record  that  can  never  fade  throughout  all  time. 

I  hope  in  the  Lyceum  that  the  children  will  be  taught  the 
beauties  that  lie  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  I  think  it  will  become  a 
perfect  guide  to  them  throughout  life.  My  husband  and  I  loved 
the  Unitarian  church  so  much,  because  in  the  Sunday  School 
they  taught  the  life  and  works  of  Jesus.  They  never  can  blot 
out  his  life  and  sayings ;  they  will  go  down  through  all  time. 
Ministering  angels  can  testify  to  his  existence  in  a  physical 
body.  His  whole  nature  was  Christlike  and  that  is  why  people 
worshipped  him  as  a  God.  They  did  not  understand  that  his 
whole  existence  was  one  of  morality  and  truth.  The  pure  spir- 
itual mother  who  gave  him  birth  impregnated  his  whole  sys- 
tem with  divine  love  for  the  human  race. 

I  wish  it  could  have  been  so  that  Justin's  presence  might 
have  been  seen  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple.  I  think  it  \vould 
have  been  fine  if  his  organ  of  speech  could  have  been  controlled 
by  Mr.  Clifton,  also  by  Margaret  Fuller,  who  gave  through  his 
mediumship  their  spirit  names  in  rhyme.  I  think  it  is  a  beau- 
tiful phase  of  his  mediumship. 

I  remember  well  when  he  used  to  speak  in  Mrs.  Bushy- 
head's  parlor  over  twenty  years  ago,  how  pleasant  and  elevat- 
ing it  was  to  listen  to  his  guides,  and  those  that  received  tests 
were  pleased  to  think  they  had  made  his  acquaintance. 

On  one  occasion  when  lawyer  Silliman  received  his  spirit 
name  he  said  to  the  controlling  spirit,  "I  have  passed  through 


MARY  C.  MORSE  475 

all  those  conditions  that  you  describe  in  rhyme.  Bless  God  the 
Truth  shall  be  spoken  through  the  organ  of  speech  of  our  loved 
medium."  Mrs.  Silliman  also  received  a  fine  test,  so  she  said; 
it  was  where  the  guide  described  a  sheaf  of  wheat  that  belonged 
to  her  family  crest  in  England,  held  over  her  head. 

At  another  time  while  Justin's  guides  were  speaking  to  the 
friends  in  the  Garwood  home,  Mr.  Hammond  addressed  them 
with  so  much  force  and  vigor  that  they  were  surprised  to  hear 
such  a  deep,  rich,  bass  voice  coming  from  Justin's  lips.  It  was 
wonderful,  as  you  know  his  natural  voice  is  soft  and  low.  On 
that  occasion  Mr.  \Yheeler,  the  civil  engineer,  said,  "Why  can't 
the  public  have  more  of  this?  Can't  we  arrange  to  keep  Justin 
down  here  awhile,  that  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  San  Diego 
may  hear  his  guides  speak?"  It  was  otherwise  decreed;  his 
physical  body  could  not  stand  the  cold,  chilly  fog  of  the  coast. 
So  he  had  to  return  to  his  mountain  home,  as  the  spirits  had 
work  for  him  there.  They  had  selected  the  location  where 
"Searchlight  Bower"  was  to  be  built  and  christened  by  Madam 
Blavatsky.  I  think  she  gave  it  a  beautiful  name.  Mr.  Wheeler 
said,  "I  think  those  spirit  names  are  something  grand.  My 
whole  nature  seemed  to  become  spiritualized  when  Bobbie 
Burns  gave  to  Mrs.  Wilson  her  spirit  name  in  the  Scotch  dia- 
lect. I  know  it  would  enlighten  many  minds  if  they  could  only 
have  heard  what  we  have  heard  here  tonight.  It  seems  like  a 
miracle  to  hear  that  Indian  girl,  Rosa,  talk  and  laugh — her 
laugh  is  so  clear  and  musical.  I  never  heard  anything  like  it  in 
Spiritualism.  Her  witty  sayings  would  make  the  most  sorrow- 
ful mind  smile." 

Others  and  I,  myself,  saw  and  heard  so  much  through  his 
mediumship  while  living  in  the  physical  body,  that  we  knew 
and  understood  there  was  a  great  power  behind  it. 

I  have  had  a  desire  several  times  to  send  my  dear  husband 
another  letter,  but  his  guides  say  they  must  husband  and  re- 
serve his  strength  for  a  work  that  they  are  doing — that  some 
day  the  public  may  have  the  pleasure  of  reading. 

Others  would  like  to  come  and  express  their  thoughts  about 
the  Spiritual  Temple.  They  say  they  cannot  permit  it — -it  takes 
too  much  of  his  spiritual  strength.  I  was  sorry  to  see  him  have 
that  hemorrhage  the  other  morning.  Rosa  tells  me  he  spits 


476        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

blood  quite  frequently  now.  So  I  thank  you,  brother  Hulburd, 
for  taking  down  the  communications  and  hope  you  will  send  a 
copy  of  them  to  the  society  and  also  to  brother  Peebles.  Oblige 
the  friends  and  myself,  brother  Hulburd,  by  sending  the  other 
part  of  Kate  Fox's  communication  to  brother  Peebles.  Mrs. 
Bushyhead  tells  me  that  I  spoke  of  brother  Peebles  as  Mr.  in 
one  sentence.  She  says  she  wants  brother  put  there  in  place  of 
Mr.  It  sounds  so  cold  and  formal  and  she  does  not  want  to 
hear  a  loving  soul  like  his  called  Mr.  So  I  hope  you  will  cor- 
rect it. 

Now  I  will  close,  leaving  my  love  to  Dr.  Meyer,  John  High, 
yourself  and  Little  Justin.  I  am  Mrs.  Morse,  the  wife  of  my 
clear  husband,  Ephriam  Weed  Morse,  one  of  the  grandest  souls 
that  ever  lived  in  a  physical  body,  now  residing  in  San  Diego. 
Your  loving  sister  in  the  cause  of  Truth.  Mary  C.  Morse. 


William  Denton 

Chapter  XLI 


Thursday,  April  21,   1904. 

I  was  sitting  in  company  with  my  cousin,  Justin  Hulburd — 
a  born  medium — reading  to  him  a  newspaper  article  relative  to 
the  order  of  the  Russian  commander  against  wireless  telegra- 
phy and  the  position  likely  to  be  taken  by  the  other  govern- 
ments, when  suddenly  Justin  signalled  me  to  stop  reading.  I 
did  so,  when  he  said,  "A  voice  says,  'There  will  be  a  greater  in- 
vention than  that,  which,  with  air-ships,  will  break  up  war. 
They  will  hover  over  armies  and  drop  explosives  down  upon 
them,  thereby  slaughtering  great  numbers.  It  will  cost  the 
lives  of  millions,  just  as  it  cost  so  many  lives  to  break  up  slav- 
ery, but  it  has  got  to  be  done  and  will  break  up  war,  as  nations 
will  not  dare  to  risk  the  great  slaughter.  Benjamin  Franklin 
is  at  the  head  of  the  movement.  The  spirits  are  bound  to  break 
up  war  between  nations.  The  improvement  will  be  on  the  same 
line  as  the  wireless  telegraph,  but  greater.  They  will  build  fly- 
ing ships  so  perfect  that  they  can  fly  through  the  air  at  a  rapid 
speed.  Thev  will  drop  an  explosive  that,  when  it  reaches  the 
lower  density  of  the  atmosphere,  it  will  spread  out  in  all  direc- 
tions. They  will  keep  throwing  them  out  so  fast  it  will  kill 
thousands  of  men  in  an  hour.  We  have  taken  this  process  that 
we  are  perfecting  in  spirit  life  to  break  up  war  between  the  dif- 
ferent nations.  There  will  yet  be  one  great  war  and  the  pro- 
gressive spirits  will  find  individuals  in  the  physical  body  that 
will  carry  out  their  conditions.'  "  (  )ver  fifty  vears  ago  Benja- 
min Franklin  made  the  prediction  through  this  medium  how 
they  would  perfect  flying  ships.  They  would  break  up  war. 
Then  I  laughingly  said  that  turnips  liked  to  keep  their  skins  on 
if  they  possibly  could — I  meant  bv  that,  that  the  time  is  not  far 


478         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

distant  when  men  will  not  stand  up  to  be  shot  at  by  their  fel- 
low men. 

It  is  a  barbarous  state  of  life  to  carry  on  war  and  to  create 
any  condition  to  bring  men  into  the  field  to  be  slaughtered  on 
account  of  kings,  emperors  or  any  other  man  that  holds  office. 
It  shows  an  intellectual  and  cultured  mind  that  the  human  race 
is  still  barbarous. 

Your  boasted  civilization  is  a  half-breed  of  barbarism.  It 
is  like  our  orthodox  farmer  praying  for  rain  and  the  God  he  be- 
lieves in  sets  his  house  on  fire  by  striking  it  with  lightning. 

The  feeble  minded  today  living  in  physical  bodies,  require 
a  strong  demonstration,  so  their  God  sends  them  cyclones  and 
tornadoes  to  wake  them  up  out  of  their  hibernating  sleep  of  old 
orthodox  creeds.  In  time,  they  will  get  to  understand  the  laws 
of  Xature  are  running  those  things  and  not  old  Jehovah  of  the 
Bible  that  has  held  them  so  many  years  in  a  deep  sleep  of 
lethargy,  where  it  was  almost  impossible  for  the  law  of  Reason 
to  break  through  and  laugh  at  their  credulity.  Your  friend  as 
alwavs,  \Yilliam  Denton. 


Miscellany 

Chapter  XLII 


Friday,  July   18.   1902. 

Mr.  J.  \V.  Wolfe  of  San  Diego  called  upon  Justin  Ilulburd 
at  his  home.  He  had  been  there  but  a  short  time  when  the 
little  Indian  spirit,  "Rosa,"  who  is  Justin's  guardian  spirit,  con- 
trolled and  said  she  would  now  give  1'rave  Wolf  his  spirit  name. 
The  control  was  then  taken  by  a  strange  spirit  who  gave  a 
beautiful  address,  ending  by  giving  Mr.  Wolf  the  name,  "Cres- 
cent Star." 

The  spirit  then  said  that,  when  living  in  the  physical  body 
four  hundred  years  ago,  his  name  was  Solomon  Xoness;  that 
he  was  a  slave  in  Rome  and  experienced  very  brutal  treatment, 
he  being  a  Hebrew.  He  came  here  with  Joseph  Xoness,  who, 
when  living  in  the  physical  body,  was  a  banker  in  Xew  York 
City  and  knew  this  medium  when  he  was  a  young  lad. 

Spirit  Solomon  Xoness  then  described  a  banker  represent- 
ing a  man  being  decorated  by  a  woman  with  a  pearl  necklace, 
the  necklace  being  a  charm  of  "Crescent  Star."  He  predicted 
the  overthrow  of  Turkey  and  the  re-occupation  of  the  Holy 
Land  by  the  children  of  Israel  and  that  Palestine  would  once 
more  become  a  flourishing,  prosperous  country.  He  made  an- 
other prediction  which  will  be  of  great  interest  to  the  world, 
which  was  that  the  Hebrew  race  would  become  very  numerous 
and  progressive  in  the  United  States  of  America,  but  they  would 
never  forget  nor  forgive  the  brutal  treatment  they  had  received 
in  Russia  and.  when  they  felt  sufficiently  strong  in  numbers 
and  wealth,  they  would  cause  an  uprising  in  Russia  and.  with 
the  assistance  of  America,  would  chastise  the  Russians  and 
bring  about  the  emancipation  of  the  Hebrews,  then  living  in  the 
Russian  dominions.  The  spirit  also  predicted  that  Mr.  Wolf 
would  become  a  writer  of  great  prominence.  There  were  pres- 
ent besides  Justin,  the  medium,  I.  W.  Wolf,  Doctor  F.  I).  C. 
Mover  and  K.  W.  Hulburd. 


480         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

November   18,   1889. 

I  once  lived  in  a  family  of  a  dear,  dear  friend 
And  many  jolly  times  we  had  unto  the  end. 
The  spirits  sent  me  to  California,  then  I  had  to  leave  my  friend, 
With  the  delicious  fruits  and  fragrant  flowers  my  life  to  blend. 

Before  I  left  Rosa  predicted  they  would  come  here, 

In  balmy  California  their  life  to  cheer. 

Now  I  see  there  was  a  work  for  them  here, 

As  William,  the  father,  is  inspired  from   spirit  sphere. 

Now  this  little  Rosa  in  everything  was  true 

In  all  the  predictions  she  made  to  you. 

Many  is  the  hard  head  in  Christianity  you  will  have  to  hew. 

And  lots  of  friends  you  will  make,  not  a  fe\v. 

Now  your  radical  work  to  the  world  can  go  forth, 
And  Virginia,  the  mother,  with  her  thoughts  can  boil  the  broth, 
For  lots  of  Christians  must  have  a  sup  to  keep  down  the  froth. 
When  the  change  comes,  their  son  Charley  can  paint  it  on  cloth. 

He  is  now  in  Europe,  across  the  pond. 

Where  the  old  masters'  pictures  he  can  look  upon. 

And   climb  ancient  stairs   made  of  stone. 

And  perhaps  take  a  look  at  an  emperor's  throne. 

When  he  comes  back  he  will  paint  pictures  of  fame 
That  will   win   for  him  an   artist's  name. 
All  the  touches  of  his  brush  will  burn  and  Maine 
On   his   canvass — Charley   Judson    is   his   name. 

There  is  Mav.  a  young  lady  by  this  time. 
In   everything  she   generally   speaks  her  mind. 
And  to  be  a  little  conservative  she  is  inclined. 
She    will    get   over   all    that    in   the   usual    time. 

Next  conies  Otis,  a  domestic  and  kindly  lad. 

And   all  the   pets  and  animals  to  see  him   are   glad. 

His  rnind  can  never  be  turned  by  any  new  fad. 

He  has  a  head  that  is  wise  and  long,  has  our  Otis  lad. 


MISCELLANY  481 

Just   look  at  our  brown  eyed   Miss  Kate, 

She  will  always  be  on  time  and  never  too  late. 

She  has  got  a  sparkling  eye  at  any  rate. 

And  some  of  the  boys  have  an  eye  on  our  winsome  Kate. 

But  little  Ella,  the  rosebud  of  them  all, 

At  the  age  of  five  from  heaven  had  an  early  call 

That  she  might  come  back  to  them  this  fall 

And  enchant  them  with  her  brightest  thoughts  of  all. 

I  hope  my  friends  will  not  take  it  amiss 

Since  I  dare  to  the  wide  world  give  this 

In  their  home  I  have  passed  many  hours  of  bliss 

I  send  this  with  my  love  and  an  old  friend's  kiss. 

And  I  hope  the  angels  will  always  call. 

And  bring  with  them  their  best  love  of  all, 

For  I  see  many  changes  in  life  this  fall, 

So  now.  William,  keep  up  the  rolling  of  the  ball. 

And  when  you  are  tired  and  require  a  rest. 

I  mean  when  with  too  many  thoughts  you  are  pressed, 

Then  go  it  again   with  an  old  time   zest. 

I  want  to  see  your  name  enrolled  with  those  of  the  blest. 

To  my  dear,  kind  friend  Virginia,  I   would  say. 

Your  darling  Ella  makes  me  a  few  visits  on  her  way, 

And  says  her  mother's  hair  is  turning  grav. 

P.ut  you  know  in  this  world  that  is  always  the   way. 

She  says  her  mother  is  so  gentle  and  sweet. 
'And  some  day  she  will   welcome  her  to  her  spirit   retreat. 
There  she  says  you   will  find  joy  and  friends  to  greet. 
She  has  a  rose  growing  by  the  name  of  Virginia  sweet. 


482         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

December   5,    1889. 

Oh,  papa  and  mamma,  what  do  you  think — 
Dan  stands  on  the  wedding  brink. 
Xow  I  know  both  of  you  at  this  will  wink. 
I  can't  myself  keep  from  giving  a  blink. 

The  bride's  name  is  Crystal  Light, 
And  her  bridal   dress  shone  so  bright, 
As  on  her  head  she  wore  a  crescent  light. 
Now  Dan  claims  her  for  his  wedded  wife. 

Charley  says  perhaps  he  will  do  so  some, day, 
For  I  know  he  is  commencing  to  look  that  way. 
I  saw  he  to  a  beautiful  spirit  had  lots  to  say, 
Then  I  thought  I  had  better  go  off  and  play. 

Next  day  we  commenced  to  prepare  the  bridal  feast, 
When  Dan  says,  lets  attend  to  the  seats, 
So  that  none  sitting  down  will  come  to  grief, 
That  all  from  their  souls  can  have  relief. 

We  all  brought  flowers  that  were  rich  and  rare, 

To  decorate  the  bridal  chairs. 

Charley  says  you  are  all  putting  on  airs, 

When  Grandma  says  for  you  we  will  likewise  prepare. 

The  bride's  face  was  all  a  glow  of  cheer 
When   Dan,  her  lover,  did  appear. 
He  clasped  her  to  his  arms  fervent  and  sincere, 
Then  I  tried  to  blush,  but  I  had  to  give  a  cheer. 

They  were  married  through  the  outgrowth  of  the  soul. 
Xow  all  emanations  from  their  life  they  can  unfold. 
That  is  the  way  they  marry  here,  I  am  told. 
It  is  beautiful  and  must  raise  a  living  fountain  in  the  soul. 

Then  we  all  went  down  to  the  musical  lake, 
And   the   rippling  waters  were  their  bridal   cake. 
As  we  stepped  into  the  gondola  to  sail  on  the  lake, 
All  the  water  and  surroundings  shook  with  a  quake. 


MISCELLANY  483 

When   we  all  commenced  to  sing 

I  saw  him  slip  on  her  finger  a  jeweled  ring, 

Then  I  knew  he  was  her  spiritual  king, 

For  he  did  nothing  but  love  ditties  in  her  ear  sing. 

I  played  on  my  guitar  as  hard  as  I  could 

And  hoped  it  would  do  some  good. 

They   wanted   to  keep  to   themselves   I   understood, 

So  you  must  know  my  playing  done  some  good. 

Their  home  is  a  perfect  flowery  glade, 

And  we  sang  them  a  pretty  bridal  serenade. 

Then  for  our  home  we  all  made  a  raid, 

When  Charley  says  let  me  go  and  lie  in  the  shade. 

Xo\v  at  this  wedding  I  was  a  little  bridesmaid. 
And  oh,  how  pretty  my  dress  did  shine  in  the  shade. 
My  light  hair  with  flowers  made  a  perfect  charade 
As  1  started  off  with  the  wedding  cavalcade. 

Xow  papa  and  mamma  you  can  see 

From  all  foolish  pride  we  are  free 

And  by  will  power  we  can  flee 

And  live  out  doors  like  the  waters  and  tree. 

I  present  you  this  as  Dan's  wedding  card. 
Xow  I  don't  set  myself  up  for  a  poetical  bard. 
But  I  stood  at  this  wedding  on  guard. 
And  must  have  made  quite  a  pleasant  placard. 

Your  loving  daughter. 

Ella  or   Pearl   Gate. 

On  one  occasion  when  visiting  in  San  Diego.  California. 
Justin,  by  invitation,  called  on  a  Mrs.  Wilson,  a  wealth}-  lady 
and  an  ardent  Spiritualist,  who  was  a  fine  medium,  and  was  re- 
siding with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Male. 

While  there  he  was  controlled  by  Robert  Hums,  the  Scot- 
tish poet.  She  asked  the  spirit  how  she  would  pass  out  of  the 
body.  He  replied  she  would  die  suddenly  when  alone:  would 


484         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

slip  out  of  her  chair  and  be  found  lying  on  the  floor.  About 
three  years  afterward  her  grand-daughter,  who  had  been  with 
her,  left  the  room  for  a  short  time.  When  she  returned  Mrs. 
Wilson  was  lying  on  the  floor;  the  spirit  had  fled.  Presumably 
she  had  slipped  from  her  chair  as  predicted  by  spirit  Burns. 

In  1873  Justin  was  boarding  with  Mrs.  Davis  on  North  12th 
street  Philadelphia.  One  morning  Mrs.  Davis  went  to  his  door 
and  called  him  for  breakfast.  He  said  to  her,  "I  don't  feel  like 
getting  up."  She  said,  "Then  you  had  better  lie  there ;  I  guess 
you  are  going  to  see  something."  In  a  short  time,  probably 
about  five  minutes,  the  room  seemed  filled  with  smoke  and  the 
theatre  came  up  in  the  middle ;  then  he  saw  a  fire  break  out  in 
the  northeast  corner. 

When  he  went  to  breakfast  he  told  Mrs.  Davis  what  he  had 
seen  and  she  advised  him  to  go  at  once  and  tell  Mr.  Simmons 
or  Mr.  Slocum.  "If  you  don't,  I  will.  You  know  the  building 
was  burned  in  March,  1872."  When  he  went  to  rehearsal  that 
day  he  told  Mr.  Slocum  what  he  had  seen  and  advised  him  to 
watch  the  building  or  there  might  be  another  fire.  That  even- 
ing when  he  came  to  dress  for  the  performance,  when  going  up 
to  his  dressing  room,  he  found  John  Rice  carrying  water  in  a 
coal  scuttle.  John  Stout  and  others  were  carrying  water.  Jus- 
tin asked  Rice,  "What  is  the  matter?"  He  replied,  "You  old 
witch,  your  prediction  has  come  true  :  a  fire  has  broken  out  in 
Billy  Sweatman's  room."  Justin  went  immediately  to  his  room 
to  pack  his  own  and  Wm.  H.  Rice's  wardrobe  to  be  removed, 
but  Billy  Welch  called  at  his  room  and  announced  the  fire  was 
out.  He  afterward  learned  that  the  property  man  who  lit  the 
gas  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor  and  pushed  the  jet  too 
close  to  Mr.  Sweatman's  wardrobe,  which  took  fire. 

In  1883  Justin  and  Mr.  W.  \Y.  Judson  were  at  the  Union 
Depot  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  when  they  met  Mr.  John  A.  Dunn. 
Justin  saw  clairvoyantly  a  Scotch  terrier  dog  licking  his  hand 
and  fawning  around  him.  Upon  describing  the  dog  Mr.  Dunn 
exclaimed,  "Can  you  see  such  things?"  He  said  that  was  a 
dog  he  owned  twenty  years  before  in  New  York  City.  The  dog 
had  some  very  peculiar  marks,  one  of  which  was  a  black  ring 
around  one  of  his  eyes. 

One    day    Mrs.    H.    H.    Chamberlain,    Mrs.    Love    and    Miss 


MISCELLANY  485 

Wyant,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Love,  called  at  Justin's  home  in  Kansas 
City.  While  in  conversation  Justin  saw  a  spirit  enter  the  room 
and  approach  Mrs.  Chamberlain.  He  stood  by  her,  shaking  his 
head  from  one  side  to  the  other.  Justin  described  him  to  her. 
All  the  spirit  would  say  was  "D.  P.,"  and  kept  repeating  those 
letters  for  some  time.  Finally  she  burst  into  tears,  saying, 
"That  is  my  son.  He  died  in  a  mad  house.  When  we  discov- 
ered he  was  becoming  insane  we  always  spoke  of  him  as  "D. 
P.,"  so  that  we  would  not  know  that  we  referred  to  him." 

While  Justin  was  lecturing  in  Kansas  City,  Mrs.  Rush,  wife 
of  Dr.  Rush,  one  Sunday  saw  in  the  morning  paper  a  notice 
of  a  Spiritualist  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  afternoon  at  the  Grand 
Avenue  hall,  where  Justin  was  to  lecture.  Never  having  been 
to  a  Spiritualist  meeting  she  said  to  her  daughter,  "Let  vis  go 
just  for  fun  and  see  what  it's  like."  They  went  and  got  seats 
about  the  middle  of  the  hall.  While  Justin  was  lecturing  he 
stopped  and  pointing  to  Mrs.  Rush,  said,  "Madam,  there  is  a 
young  man  standing  by  you  with  a  rather  peculiar  expression 
to  his  eye.  Right  under  the  eye  is  a  dark  blotch  which  looks  as 
if  inflicted  by  a  bullet.  He  says,  'Mother,  I  am  not  in  Hell,  as 
the  priest  told  you,  but  with  you  and  sister  most  of  the  time.'  " 
The  lady  burst  into  tears  and  said,  "That  is  my  son.  The  priest 
told  me  he  saw  his  soul  in  Hell  because  he  would  not  receive 
the  rites  of  the  Catholic  church.  Thank  God.  my  son  is  safe 
and  can  come  to  his  mother.  No  more  cursed  Catholic  religion 
for  me." 

While  in  Kansas  City  a  private  circle  was  held  twice  a  week 
at  Justin's  home,  the  sitters  being  Justin,  F.  D.  C.  Meyer,  Mrs. 
H.  H.  Chamberlain,  Mr.  Joseph  Fleming  and  E.  W.  Hulburd. 
At  one  of  these  circles  Justin  was  controlled  by  a  spirit  said  to 
have  been  known  while  in  the  body  as  Sir  Thomas  Clifton,  who 
predicted  that  within  a  hundred  years  the  earth  would  have  an- 
other moon  and  then  farmers  could  work  at  night. 

Soon  after  Justin  moved  to  California,  not  long  subsequent 
to  which  the  papers  announced  that  at  the  Lick  observatory  the 
powerful  telescope  had  observed  the  outline  of  a  second  moon. 

One  day  in  June.  1884,  Justin  called  at  the  office  of  Dr.  H. 
\Y.  Gould,  011  Fifth  street  in  San  Diego.  California.  While  there 
Instill  saw  a  man  and  woman  standing  bv  Dr.  Gould.  He  re- 


486        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

marked,  "The  man  looks  like  the  most  positive  man  I  ever  saw 
and  he  looks  like  you,  Doctor."  He  then  described  both  spirits 
and  Dr.  Gould  said  they  were  his  father  and  mother  and  he 
thought  his  father  was  the  most  positive  man  that  ever  lived. 
"There/'  he  said,  "is  where  I  get  my  stubbornness." 

Then  the  mother  said,  "He  has  a  locket  in  his  pants  pocket 
with  both  our  pictures  in  it."  The  Doctor  said,  "Yes,  I  have 
such  a  locket,  but  mother  is  mistaken ;  it  is  in  my  vest,  hanging 
up:  I  will  show  it  to  you."  He  got  up  and  went  to  where  the 
vest  was  hanging  and  felt  in  the  pockets— then  exclaimed,  "By 
George  !  it  isn't  here."  He  then  felt  in  the  pockets  of  the  vest 
he  was  wearing  and  failed  to  find  it.  He  then  said,  "I  changed 
my  vest  this  morning  and  thought  I  left  it  in  the  other  vest,  as 
that  is  the  one  I  generally  wear."  He  then  examined  the  pants 
pockets  and  found  the  locket,  which  was  large  oval  shaped.  He 
said,  "I  always  carry  it  with  me  and  must  have  put  it  in  my  pants 
while  changing  the  vests  and  have  forgotten  about  it."  The 
Doctor  then  said,  "Of  all  the  mediums  I  have  been  to,  this  is 
the  greatest  clairvoyant  test  I  ever  had." 

Sitting  one  day  in  Dr.  Gould's  office,  Mr.  Johnson,  an  archi- 
tect and  builder  came  in.  During  the  time  he  was  there  Justin 
described  a  young  man  standing  by  him.  The  spirit  told  him 
that  Mr.  Johnson  taught  him  to  work  by  a  certain  rule  and  said 
that  he  passed  out  in  Florida  and  gave  his  name.  Mr.  Johnson 
said,  "Yes,  I  had  such  a  young  man  as  you  describe  in  my  em- 
ploy and  taught  him  to  work  by  that  rule.  He  went  to  Florida 
but  I  haven't  heard  of  his  death."  He  said,  "I  have  heard  of  you 
describing  people  still  living  in  the  body.  Don't  you  think  pos- 
sibly he  is  still  in  the  body?"  Justin  said,  "Xo,  the  spirit  says 
he  is  out  of  the  body.  Xext  Monday  you  will  understand." 
Y\  ith  next  Monday's  mail  came  a  letter  telling  of  this  young 
man's  death.  Mr.  Johnson  then  told  his  friends  in  San  Diego 
that  was  one  of  the  best  tests  he  had  ever  had  in  Spiritualism. 

In  1887  one  evening  at  Justin's  Mountain  View  home  near 
Descanso,  California,  there  were  present  Justin,  Dr.  F.  D.  C. 
Meyer.  R.  AY.  Hulburd,  Jose  D.  Lopez  and  a  young  man  em- 
ployed on  the  ranch,  known  as  "Windy  Bill."  AYhile  sitting 
there,  there  came  a  small  sized  Spanish  lady,  draped  in  a  beauti- 
ful Spanish  scarf,  worked  with  gold  and  silver  and  silk  thread. 


MISCELLANY  487 

The  pattern  was  so  prominent  that  Justin  described  pond  lilies 
worked  on  the  lace  scarf.  Mr.  Lopez  said,  "The  description  is 
of  my  mother,  but  I  never  knew  her  to  own  such  a  scarf  as  you 
describe,  and  never  knew  one  like  it  to  be  in  the  family."  A  few 
days  after  Mr.  Lopez  made  a  visit  to  his  eldest  sister  in  San 
Diego.'  He  spoke  of  Justin's  description  of  his  mother  and  in- 
quired if  such  a  scarf  had  ever  been  known  in  the  family.  The 
eldest  sister  said,  "Yes,  there  is  such  a  scarf  in  the  family  and  I 
gave  it  to  sister  here  for  safe  keeping,  as  you  know  she  takes 
the  best  care  of  such  things.  It  was  brought  to  Mexico  from 
Spain  by  our  great  grandfather,  Count  Jose  Lopez,  and  pre- 
sented to  your  mother  by  our  father  on  her  bridal  day.  Your 
mother  wore  it  only  once,  which  was  on  the  occasion  of  her  mar- 
riage, and  she  handed  it  to  me  for  safe  keeping  and  I  turned  it 
over  to  sister,  and  she  has  cared  for  it  ever  since."  They  went 
to  an  old  trunk  and  brought  it  from  the  bottom  and  there  he 
saw  it  for  the  first  time,  he  being  the  only  child  of  his  father's 
second  wife. 

In  February  or  March,  1881 — exact  date  forgotten — Justin 
was  giving  a  sitting  to  a  lady  at  his  home,  1416  Grand  Avenue, 
Kansas  City,  Mo.  There  were  present  Mrs.  Lee,  wife  of  Harry 
Lee,  son  of  Bishop  Lee  of  Davenport,  Iowa.  The  control  sud- 
denly turned  and  addressing  Mrs.  Lee,  said,  "In  two  hours  there 
will  be  a  big  fire  in  the  bottoms."  Just  then  Mr.  Olmstead.  a 
lumber  dealer  who  owned  considerable  property  in  that  part  of 
the  city,  came  in.  The  control,  turning  to  him,  said,  "Go  right 
down."  lie  didn't  stop,  but  instantly  went  out,  took  a  car  and 
arrived  in  time  to  save  some  of  his  property.  Mrs.  Lee  drove  to 
her  husband's  office  to  take  him  home.  \\hen  he  was  about 
seating  himself  in  his  vehicle  the  alarm  sounded  and  Mrs.  Lee 
exclaimed,  "There  is  the  fire,  just  as  Justin  predicted  two  hours 
ago."  Lp  to  that  time  it  was  the  largest  fire  Kansas  City  had 
experienced.  The  writer,  with  his  son-in-law,  went  to  the  bluff 
at  Tenth  Street,  which  overlooked  the  bottoms,  and  witnessed 
the  fire. 

One  Sunday  evening  in  Kansas  City  Dr.  Joshua  Thorne 
and  wife  called  at  Justin's  home  to  see  him  before  going  to  the 
hall  to  lecture  and  found  him  under  the  control  of  a  negro  boy. 
There  were  present  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fleming.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  \Y.  \Y. 


488         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Judson,  Julia  Meyer,  F.  D.  C.  Meyer,  Mrs.  Love  and  Mrs.  Cham- 
berlain. When  Dr.  Thome  entered  the  room  the  negro  addressed 
him  by  name.  The  Doctor  replied,  "Hello,  you  here,  Jack?" 
They  had  quite  a  long  conversation ;  finally  the  Doctor  said, 
"Jack,  you  must  leave  now  so  that  we  can  take  the  medium  to 
the  hall  to  lecture."  Jack  said,  "Doctor,  I've  got  in  and  can't 
get  out."  The  Doctor  then  requested  the  friends  to  sing  and  he 
would  bring  his  will  power  to  bear  to  help  get  him  out.  Fin- 
ally the  negro  left. 

Justin  went  to  the  hall  and  gave  the  lecture,  after  which 
Dr.  Thorne  and  wife  and  a  few  of  the  friends  returned  to  the 
sitting  room  to  see  how  the  medium  got  along.  While  in  con- 
versation Dr.  Thorne  said,  "I  wish  when  Jack  was  here  I  had 
thought  to  ask  him  if  he  couldn't  get  on  the  track  of  Smith's 
murderer." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  negro  controlled  again  and  said,  "Yes, 
Doctor,  I  am  going  to  try  and  help  you.  You  were  good  to  me 
and  my  family  and  I  will  do  what  I  can  for  you.  Come  back 
here  on  Tuesday  and  maybe  I  will  have  some  word  for  you." 
The  Doctor  returned  Tuesday.  The  negro  came  and  reported 
that  having  procured  the  help  of  others,  they  had  located  the 
murderer  in  Texas.  Dr.  Thorne  then  went  to  the  authorities 
and  told  them  what  he  had  learned.  They  laughed  at  him  but, 
saying  they  had  known  him  so  many  years  as  an  honorable  and 
truthful  man.  they  would  investigate. 

They  accordingly  sent  detectives  to  Texas,  who  found  the 
murderer  as  the  negro  stated,  and  brought  him  back  to  Kansas 
City  for  trial.  The  matter  was  published  in  the  newspapers  far 
and  near  and  Justin  was  so  overrun  with  callers  that  he  was 
compelled  to  shut  himself  in  his  room  and  refuse  everyone.  Let- 
ters were  received  from  all  parts  by  the  bushel.  By  the  publica- 
tion of  the  above  the  consummation  of  the  spirit  plans  to  bring 
the  writer  and  Justin  together  was  effected  and  the  work  for 
which  they  had  been  selected  was  soon  begun. 

In  September,  1882,  in  Kansas  City.  Mo.,  Mrs.  Dr.  Rush 
called  on  Justin.  While  sitting  in  conversation  she.  noticing  his 
inattention,  said.  "Justin,  you  are  not  interested  in  my  conversa- 
tion. You  are  seeing  something.  What  is  it?"  He  then  told 
her.  "I  see  the  main  building  of  the  Fair  Grounds  on  fire.  My 


MISCELLANY  489 

God !  I  hope  they  won't  burn  down."  She  said,  "I  hope  not." 
The  next  day  Mrs.  Rush  and  daughter  and  some  friends  went 
to  the  fair.  About  four  o'clock  p.m.,  as  they  were  passing 
through  the  main  building,  someone  shouted,  "Fire!"  She  looked 
and  saw  the  part  of  the  building  she  had  left  a  few  minutes  be- 
fore was  on  fire.  She  said  to  her  daughter,  "There  is  the  fire 
Justin  predicted  yesterday."  When  they  reached  the  other  exit 
the  crowd  was  so  great  that  many  were  badly  injured. 

They  went  directly  to  Justin's,  his  being  the  first  place 
where  they  were  acquainted.  They  rushed  in  breathless — Mrs. 
Rush  was  handed  a  chair,  when  she  said,  "Well,  I  saw  your  pre- 
diction fulfilled.  We  left  the  main  building  in  flames  and  hur- 
ried here  to  get  away  from  the  crowd."  She  then  said,  "I  must 
have  my  daughter  write  an  article  for  publication."  Justin  said, 
"Please  don't — if  you  do  we  will  have  the  house  besieged  again." 

In  the  summer  of  1883,  Justin's  house  having  been  destroy- 
ed by  a  cyclone,  he  was  staying  with  the  family  of  W.  W.  Jud- 
son  on  Independence  Avenue,  in  Kansas  City.  A  gentleman  and 
his  wife  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  came  with  friends  to  call.  They 
intended  taking  the  morning  train  from  Kansas  City.  During 
the  evening  Justin  was  controlled  by  an  Indian  girl,  "Rosa." 
who,  taking  the  gentleman  by  the  hand,  advised  him  not  to  take 
the  morning  train  as  he  intended.  "Plenty  big  water  come  in 
the  night  and  screecher  (as  she  called  the  locomotive)  run  oft 
track  and  good  many  be  hurt,  some  killed."  That  night  there 
came  one  of  the  heaviest  rains  Kansas  City  had  ever  known. 
The  rivers  rose  to  a  great  height  and  flooded  low  parts  of  Kan- 
sas City.  Tiie  gentleman  said  to  his  wife,  "I  shall  heed  that 
Indian  girl's  warning.  We  will  not  take  that  train."  Mrs.  Jud- 
son  remarked.  "1  guess  Rosa  has  missed  it  this  time.  This  is' 
such  a  beautiful  night."  When  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  were  bid- 
ding the  friends  good  bye  the  sky  was  clear  and  showed  no 
signs  of  a  storm,  but  at  11  :30  the  rain  was  coming  down  in  tor- 
rents. During  the  forenoon  a  telegram  announced  that  that 
train  had  been  wrecked  and  many  people  hurt,  a  full  report  of 
which  was  published  in  the  Evening  Star. 

While  staying  with  the  family  of  Mr.  Judson.  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1883.  they  were  one  evening  holding  a  circle.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  1  nelson.  Miss  Mav  Unison,  their  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 


490         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

Clark,  neighbors,  and  Justin  Hulburd,  medium,  being  present. 
After  they  had  been  sitting  about  half  an  hour  Rosa,  the  Indian 
girl,  the  control,  told  them  to  break  up  the  circle  and  go  down 
stairs,  as  there  was  going  to  be  a  dreadful  storm.  They  went 
down  and  looking  out,  saw  no  signs  of  a  storm.  Mr.  Judson 
said,  ''It  don't  look  like  a  storm,  but  Rosa's  predictions  hardly 
ever  fail."  Mr.  Clark  said  to  his  wife,  "I  guess  we  had  better 
go  home,"  as  they  placed  great  confidence  in  what  Rosa  says. 
Rosa  then  said  to  Mr.  Judson,  "Light  the  lantern  and  put  it  by 
the  cellar  door,  then  go  through  the  house  and  bolt  the  shut- 
ters and  fasten  down  the  windows."  The  family  then  went  into 
the  sitting  room,  where  they  were  joined  by  the  servant,  Mag- 
gie, with  her  baby. 

After  sitting  there  about  ten  minutes  they  heard  a  roaring 
in  the  distance  which  sounded  like  the  booming  of  cannon.  It 
came  nearer  and  nearer,  until  in  a  fewr  minutes  the  trees  were 
lashing  each  other.  The  household  rushed  for  the  cellar  and 
looking  out  from  the  windows  saw  some  of  the  big  trees  bend- 
ing nearly  to  the  ground  by  the  force  of  the  wind.  They  re- 
mained in  the  cellar  until  after  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
which  opened  bright  and  beautiful. 

^Yhile  at  breakfast  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  Rosa  con- 
trolled Justin  and  said,  "Heap  big  storm  today/'  Mr.  Judson 
said.  "For  Heaven's  sake  Rosa,  do  give  us  a  rest  between  times." 
Rosa  replied,  "She  um  come  big  soon."  About  eleven  o'clock 
clouds  appeared  and  Mr.  Judson's  little  daughter  Ella  came 
rushing  into  the  house,  greatly  excited,  screaming,  "It's  com- 
ing— it's  coming!  Let's  get  the  lamp  and  go  to  the  cellar."  His 
eldest  son,  an  artist,  was  sitting  by  a  window  at  work  on  a  pic- 
ture. The  medium,  who  was  standing  behind  him  looking  at 
the  picture  while  he  was  painting,  happened  to  look  out  of  the 
window  and  called  the  attention  of  the  artist,  saying,  "Charley, 
look  there.  Isn't  that  strange  looking?" 

When  he  looked  out  he  saw  the  wind  and  rain  coming  from 
north  and  south,  meeting.  Charley  said,  "That  is  going  to  be  a 
big  storm,"  and  caught  up  his  little  sister  Ella  and  rushed  into 
.the  cellar,  shouting  to  the  others,  "Come  on — come  on  :  there  is 
a  big  storm  coming."  They  had  barely  time  to  lock  the  doors 
and  get  to  the  cellar  when  one  of  the  worst  storms  of  the  season 


MISCELLANY  491 

burst  upon  them.  It  was  thunder,  lightning,  rain  and  wind, 
causing  great  destruction  of  property. 

It  would  take  a  large  volume  to  record  all  the  predictions 
of  the  little  Indian  girl,  Rosa,  through  the  mediumship  of  Justin. 

One  day  Harry  Lee,  president  of  the  Transfer  Company 
and  son  of  Bishop  Lee  of  the  Episcopal  church,  came  with  a 
friend  to  call  on  Justin-.  When  ushered  into  the  house  he  said, 
"Justin,  I  have  a  railroad  friend  here  to  whom  I  would  like  to 
have  you  give  a  reading."  Justin  exclaimed,  "A  railroad  friend ; 
why,  I  located  him  on  a  steamboat."  The  gentleman  laughed 
and  said,  "For  a  number  of  years  I  was  on  a  steamboat  on  the 
Mississippi."  Justin  then  described  a  spirit  standing  beside  him 
and  gave  his  name,  which  was  a  very  peculiar  one.  "He  says 
he  was  captain  of  the  steamboat  this  gentleman  was  connected 
with." 

Justin,  sometimes  in  public  as  well  as  in  private,  gave  po- 
etical readings.  It  was  for  one  of  these  that  Mr.  Lee  brought 
this  gentleman.  Justin  went  to  the  gentleman  and  placed  his 
hand  on  his  head — which  was  his  customary  way  when  giving 
readings.  He  said,  "There  is  something  here  I  cannot  under- 
stand." Mr.  Lee  said,  "What  is  it,  Justin?  Tell  us."  Justin 
then  said,  "I  see  my  friend  President  Garfield  vomiting  blood. 
I  don't  know  what  that  means.  I  presume  he  is  sick  with  that 
Washington  climate."  The  scene  then  disappeared.  Justin 
then  went  on  with  the  reading  but,  in  about  five  minutes,  the 
vision  came  again.  Mr.  Lee  then  said,  "Justin,  I  am  positive 
that  means  something."  After  that  the  reading  went  on  without 
interruption.  The  next  morning  when  Justin  was  called  for 
breakfast,  he  told  them  his  head  troubled  him,  and  he  could 
not  get  up.  He  said,  "I  have  seen  Mr.  Garfield  again,  and  he 
was  in  a  peculiar  condition."  After  some  time  Justin  got  up, 
went  to  his  sitting  room,  sat  down,  and  commenced  crying. 

Mrs.  Schroeder,  who  was  living  in  the  house  at  the  time, 
came  in  and  said,  "Why,  Justin,  whv  are  you  crying?"  He  said 
he  thought  there  was  something  the  matter  with  Mr.  Garfield. 
Soon  after  Mr.  Lee  came  in  and  said.  "I  have  just  received  a 
telegram  —  President  Garfield  has  been  assassinated.  That  is 
the  reason  for  what  you  saw  yesterday." 

One  evening  at  his  home  in  Chicago  while  in  the  parlor  en- 


492 

tertaining  some  friends  who  were  making  a  social  call — among 
them  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson,  a  merchant  of  the  city — a  spirit 
lady  came  and  stood  by  Mrs.  Judson.  Justin  described  the  spirit, 
who  then  lifted  the  skirt  of  her  dress,  and  showed  an  embroid- 
ered petticoat,  which  he  also  described.  Mrs.  Judson  recognized 
the  pattern,  and  said  she  embroidered  that  petticoat,  and  also 
recognized  the  spirit  as  her  sister,  but  declared  she  was  still  in 
the  body,  and  living  in  Rochester,  Xew  York,  as  she  had  just 
received  a  letter  from  her.  She  remarked  that  Justin  must  see 
spirits  in  the  body.  ^Yhile  sitting  at  breakfast  next  morning 
the  bell  rang,  and  a  messenger  handed  Mr.  Judson  a  telegram, 
announcing  the  death  of  his  wife's  sister,  which  occurred  a  short 
time  before  Justin  described  her.  Mr.  Judson  was  so  excited 
that,  not  stopping  to  take  off  his  dressing  gown  or  slippers,  he 
put  on  his  hat,  took  the  message  to  the  office  of  F.  D.  C.  Meyer, 
who  was  present  the  evening  before,  and  laid  it  before  him,  say- 
ing, "Look  at  that — now  don't  you  think  we  have  got  a  witch 
in  the  neighborhood?" 

On  another  occasion  in  Chicago  there  was  a  seance  being 
held  at  Justin's  home.  Mr.  F.  D.  C.  Meyer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse, 
and  Mrs.  Robinson,  who  kept  a  boarding  house,  were  present. 
Justin  sprang  up,  tore  his  hair  and  screamed,  "The  cars  are 
going  through  the  bridge— Oh  my  God,  how  horrible !  The 
people  are  being  killed  and  the  cars  are  burning."  Being  asked 
where,  he  said,  "Ashtabula."  The  next  morning  the  papers  an- 
nounced the  terrible  accident  at  the  Ashtabula  bridge.  Mr. 
Morse  called  before  Justin  was  up,  with  a  morning  paper,  and 
said  to  Mr.  Meyer,  who  was  present,  "My  God!  Here  it  is." 
Mr.  Meyer  said,  "Don't  let  Justin  know — he  has  been  so  nerv- 
ous, lie  didn't  go  to  sleep  until  five  o'clock  this  morning." 

In  one  of  her  lectures  in  Chicago,  Mrs.  Cora  L.  V.  Rich- 
mond said  of  Justin,  "He  is  a  natural  born  medium." 

At  a  seance  in  the  winter  of  1876  at  Justin's  home  in  Chi- 
cago, there  were  present  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse,  Mr.  Collier,  F. 
D.  C.  Meyer,  and  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Morse,  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten.  A  spirit  controlled  Justin  who  claimed  to  be  a  bro- 
ther of  Mrs.  Morse,  who  when  in  the  body  was  a  fine  musician. 
He  said  twelve  spirits,  including  himself,  were  inventing  an  in- 
strument that  would  be  called  a  "telephone,"  by  which  people 


MISCELLANY  493 

in  Joliet  could  hear  a  band  play  in  Chicago.  The  circle  was  in- 
credulous, but  he  told  them  that  the  telephone  would  be  per- 
fected in  spirit  life  by  the  aid  of  music.  When  the  next  day  Mr. 
Meyer  told  some  friends  of  the  prediction  they  laughed  at  him 
and  said,  "The  spirits  this  time  are  clear  off  their  base,  and  are 
making  a  fool  of  him," 

At  a  lecture  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  in  1882,  one  of  Justin's 
controls  known  in  earth  life  as  Sir  Thomas  Clifton,  a  barrister 
of  London,  England,  predicted  that  the  time  was  coming  when 
telegraphing  would  be  done  without  wires.  It  seemed  so  in- 
credible that  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  refused  to  make  a 
record  of  the  prediction.  The  spirit  said  it  would  be  brought  to 
such  perfection  that  people  on  the  rostrum  at  one  hall  could 
telegraph  messages  to  those  on  the  rostrums  of  other  halls. 

In  1881  at  the  same  place,  Justin's  control,  Mr.  Clifton,  pre- 
dicted that  flying  ships,  on  which  spirits  were  at  work,  would 
in  time  be  brought  to  perfection,  and  the  North  Pole  would  be 
first  reached  by  a  flying  ship.  He  also  stated  that  the  geography 
of  the  globe  was  imperfectly  known  :  that  the  world  had  knowl- 
edge of  only  about  two-thirds  of  it — that  beyond  the  pole  was 
a  large  continent  with  a  warm  climate,  which  in  time  would  be 
discovered,  but  the  spirit  world  would  not  assist  explorers  to 
reach  it  at  this  time,  the  climate  being  such  that  we  could  not 
live  there,  but  would  die  almost  immediately.  He  said,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  gradual  change  taking  place,  and  in  time  our 
people  could  live  there  :  that  it  was  a  very  populous  country  with 
immense  mineral  resources,  and  many  large  towns  and  cities. 
and  much  fine'  timber,  the  capital  city  being  shaded  by  trees 
three  hundred  feet  high.  Many  of  the  principal  buildings  are 
built  of  stone  which  is  nearly  transparent.  The  first  to  reach 
there  will  be  by  a  flying  ship,  and  the  people  there  will  be  so 
frightened  that  many  will  rush  into  the  sea  and  be  drowned. 

During  the  voyage  to  this  continent  the  flying  ship  dis- 
covers the  fact  that  the  Xorth  Pole  has  a  different  effect  upon 
the  magnetic  needle  than  people  had  any  idea  of.  After  this 
discovery  there  will  be  found  an  open  route  to  the  pole.  The  in- 
habitants of  this  continent  arc  highlv  civilized,  are  of  light  com- 
plexion, and  very  swift  of  foot,  and  eat  no  meat. 

In  the  winter  of  187d  and  1877  lustin  was  residing  on   Indi- 


494         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

ana  Avenue  in  Chicago.  At  that  time  Henry  Slade  was  in  trou- 
ble in  England.  Justin  and  Air.  F.  D.  C.  Meyer  had  just  re- 
turned from  listening  to  a  lecture  by  Airs.  Cora  L.  V.  Richmond. 
Justin  was  reading  a  newspaper,  which  stated  that  Air.  Slade 
had  been  imprisoned  in  London.  He  threw  down  the  paper,  say- 
ing, "That  is  a  lie.  He  never  was  incarcerated."  This  was  the 
first  time  Air.  Aleyer  had  seen  Justin  under  spirit  control.  "You 
want  proof  of  spirit  control?  You  will  get  enough  of  it.  You 
will  see  by  the  morning  papers  that  two  men  went  his  bail,  and 
he  never  was  imprisoned.  He  is  now  on  his  way  to  France." 

That  same  winter  the  spirits  advised  Air.  Aleyer  and  Justin 
to  go  to  Kansas  City,  but  they  refused.  They  said  to  Air.  Aleyer 
that  he  must  go,  or  they  would  ruin  him.  He  still  refused.  They 
did  as  they  threatened.  In  Alarch,  1877,  he  and  Justin  went 
to  Yineland.  X.  J.  In  Alay,  1878.  Air.  Aleyer  went  from 
Yineland,  X.  J.,  to  Alemphis,  Tenn.  In  Alarch,  1879,  Justin  was 
very  sick.  Air.  Aleyer  returned  to  Yineland,  but  Justin's  con- 
dition was  such  that  they  concluded  to  make  a  change,  and  Air. 
Aleyer  and  Justin  went  to  Alemphis.  While  in  Alemphis  Justin 
was  controlled  and  the  spirits  told  Air.  Aleyer  to  go  to  Kansas 
City;  that  they  must  leave  Alemphis  by  the  tenth  of  Alay,  as 
the  yellow  fever  would  break  out  again.  They  also  told  Mr. 
John  Aleyer,  a  cousin  of  F.  D.  C.  Aleyer,  that  he  must  leave 
Alemphis.  He  refused.  The  spirit  said,  "If  you  don't,  you  will 
be  the  first  to  die."  He  said  Alemphis  was  good  enough  for  him 
to  die  in.  Justin  and  F.  D.  C.  Aleyer  went  to  Kansas  City  as 
directed.  They  had  been  there  but  two  or  three  days  wrhen  the 
spirit  control  said,  "Xow  don't  you  think  if  you  'had  come  here 
when  we  told  you  to,  you  would  have  been  better  off?"  They 
had  been  in  Kansas  City  about  two  weeks  when  Air.  Aleyer  re- 
ceived a  telegram  from  Alemphis  saying  his  cousin  John  Aleyer 
was  very  sick — to  come  immediately.  About  two  hours  later, 
before  Air.  Aleyer  could  get  a  train,  he  received  another  tele- 
gram, announcing  the  death  of  his  cousin.  As  the  spirits  pre- 
dicted. Air.  John  Aleyer  was  the  first  yellow  fever  victim  of  that 
epidemic. 

\\hen  in  Yineland,  X.  J.,  in  1877,  there  were  present  in 
Justin's  parlor  besides  himself,  F.  D.  C.  Aleyer,  Airs.  Julia 
Schroeder,  Dr.  and  Airs.  Pierce.  .Mrs.  fennie  Johnson,  and  her 


MISCELLANY  495 

daughter,  Lulu  Johnson.  Justin  was  entranced,  in  which  state 
he  remained  about  an  hour.  When  he  came  out  of  the  trance 
he  described  a  place  in  Germany  which  Mr.  Meyer  and  his  sis- 
ter, Mrs.  Schroeder,  recognized  as  the  home  of  their  childhood. 
Justin  then  described  a  library  building  which  had  very  peculiar 
windows  and  doors.  He  then  entered  the  building  and  de- 
scribed the  arrangement  of  the  rooms  and  books  which  they 
recognized  and  said  the  description  was  perfect. 

In  1874  Justin  was  walking  up  North  Tenth  street  in  Phil- 
adelphia, when  he  met  Madame  Blavatsky  walking  down  the 
street.  He  described  an  Arab  who  was  walking  with  her.  She 
said,  "My  dear  little  friend,  I  am  in  constant  communication 
with  that  Arab,  but  he  still  lives  in  the  body."  Two  weeks 
afterward  he  called  upon  her  at  her  rooms.  She  said  she  had 
just  had  a  communication  from  the  Arab  in  which  he  asked  if 
she  felt  his  presence  on  a  certain  clay,  which  was  the  day  Justin 
saw  him  walking  with  her.  Justin  frequently  sees  spirits  of 
those  still  in  the  body. 

While  Justin  resided  in  Yineland,  X.  J.,  they  were  in  the 
practice  of  holding  meetings  in  his  parlor  Sunday  afternoon. 
One  Sunday  quite  a  number  were  assembled.  Among  them  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howe,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jennings,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  their  son  Win.  Johnson,  and  daughter 
Miss  Lulu  Johnson,  Miss  Fannie  Shinier,  F.  D.  C.  Meyer,  Mrs. 
Julia  Schroeder,  and  her  son  Freddie,  Miss  Dolly  Dix,  and  oth- 
ers whose  names  cannot  be  recalled.  When  they  assembled  they 
found  Justin  lying,  sick,  on  an  old  sofa  brought  from  Scotland, 
and  fully  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old.  He  said  to  Mrs. 
Pierce  he  thought  they  had  better  not  hold  any  meeting  that 
day,  as  he  did  not  feel  well.  Dr.  Jennings  came  forward  and 
said,  "Yes,  Justin,  we  will  hold  the  meeting.  I  feel  that  we  will 
get  something  good  today."  Almost  immediately  Justin  was 
entranced,  and  fourteen  spirits  came  who  were  recognized  by 
their  friends.  Each  one  referred  to  some  incident  which  oc- 
curred in  their  davs  of  childhood,  which  were  remembered  by 
those  interested.  One  of  the  spirits  which  Justin  described  was 
a  brother  of  Mr.  Johnson,  who  went  to  the  gold  diggings  of 
California.  Before  Justin  was  half  done  describing  him  Mr. 
Johnson  said,  "That  is  mv  brother,"  but  lustin  went  on  and 


496         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

completed  the  description.  Mr.  Johnson  said,  "That  is  better 
than  I  could  describe  him,  and  he  is  my  own  brother."  The 
spirit  then  gave  his  name  in  full,  when  Mrs.  Johnson  said,  "You 
must  be  mistaken — that  is  not  your  middle  name,  because  I 
christened  my  son  after  you,  and  gave  him  the  name  my  hus- 
band said  was  your  full  name,  and  it  did  not  have  that  middle 
name  in  it."  The  spirit  said,  "I  guess,  sister  Jennie,  I  know  my 
own  name."  Mr.  Johnson  spoke  up  and  said,  "By  George,  bro- 
ther is  right ;  that  is  his  middle  name — I  made  a  mistake  when 
I  had  the  boy  christened." 

The  last  spirit  who  controlled  was  a  sister  of  Dr.  Pierce 
named  Nancy  Pierce.  She  said,  "Milo  Pierce,  do  you  remember 
when  you  wanted  to  step  aboard  the  horse  cars  on  Tremont 
street,  Boston?  I  told  you  to  keep  your  nickles  and  dimes — 
you  would  need  them  when  you  were  an  old  man."  Dr.  Pierce 
said,  "Yes,  sister  Nancy ;  if  I  had  heeded  your  warning  I  would 
have  been  better  off  today."  The  spirit  said,  "Nancy  L.  Pierce 
knew  a  thing  or  two."  The  Doctor  said,  Why,  sister,  I  never 
knew  you  had  a  middle  name."  She  said,  "You  go  and  rummage 
through  the  old  books  and  get  Grandfather  Pierce's  bible,  and 
you  will  find  I  was  christened  Nancy  Lily  Pierce.  I  never  signed 
my  middle  name  nor  used  it."  Mr.  Pierce  wrote  to  relatives  in 
Maine,  requesting  them  to  look  through  the  old  books  of  the 
grandfather  and  get  the  record.  They  wrote  in  reply  that  they 
found  the  record  in  the  old  bible,  and  she  had  been  christened 
Nancy  Lily  Pierce.  Dr.  Pierce  was  an  old  man  at  this  time,  and 
this  sister  Nancy  was  an  elder  sister.  At  the  next  meeting  Dr. 
Pierce  stated  Justin  could  not  have  got  that  from  his  mind,  as 
he  never  knew  his  sister  had  a  middle  name,  and  he  had  never 
heard  it  mentioned  in  the  family.  Dr.  Pierce  was  well  known  in 
Boston,  where  he  had  resided  many  years  before  coming  to 
Vineland. 

Justin  was  one  day  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Pierce,  there  being 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce,  their  sons  Dana  and  Peter  Pierce,  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Jennings,  and  their  son  Phyllis  Jennings,  Lydia  Snow,  \Vm. 
Peckham,  Mrs.  Wells,  and  Mrs.  Johnson.  Mrs.  Pierce  had  just 
served  them,  with  coffee  and  cake  in  the  parlor,  when  Dr.  Pierce 
said,  "One  month  from  today  T  get  $10,000  on  my  policy;  then 
I  am  going  to  give  you  all  a  dinner.  I  will  give  it  up  at  Justin's 


MISCELLANY  497 

mansion,  where  they  have  such  a  large  dining  room."  Almost 
immediately  his  spirit  daughter  controlled  Justin  and  said,  "No, 
papa,  you  won't  get  it :  they  are  going  to  cheat  you  out  of  it." 
The  Doctor  said,  "How  is  that,  daughter?  They  cannot  do  it — 
1  have  paid  all  my  installments."  She  said,  "The  company  is 
laboring  under  difficulties,  and  you  had  better  go  to  Xew  York 
tomorrow  or  the  next  day  at  the  farthest  and  see  about  it." 

She  then  said,  "When  you  go  to  the  office,  go  right  through 
to  a  desk  where  you  will  find  a  large  fleshy  man  with  a  bald 
head,  sitting;  his  under  lip  droops  a  little;  he  will  give  you  more 
satisfaction  than  anyone  else  in  the  place."  Dr.  Pierce  took  the 
morning  train  to  Xew  York,  went  directly  to  the  office,  and 
found  the  man  she  had  described.  He  asked  the  man  if  the  com- 
pany was  in  trouble.  He  replied  "It  was  laboring  under  a  dif- 
ficulty, but  it  will  get  through  all  right."  Dr.  Pierce  then  said, 
"In  about  a  month  my  policy  is  due,  and  I  expect  my  money." 
The  man  said.  "Don't  worry  about  that;  you  will  get  it,  all 
right." 

About  one  week  after  Dr.  Pierce's  visit  the  company  failed, 
and  he  got  nothing.  The  Doctor  had  expected  this  money  to 
support  himself  and  family  in  his  old  age,  he  being  at  this  time 
past  seventy  years,  and  its  loss  undoubtedly  hastened  his  death. 
The  Sunday  following  the  failure  of  the  company  Prof.  Van 
Ame  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  Phipladelphia.  spoke  of  this  great 
test. 

Sunday.  June  10.  1900,  at  the  home  of  E.  \Y.  Ilulburd  near 
Descanso,  Cal..  there  were  present  Justin,  the  medium.  J.  E. 
High.  F.  1).  C.  Meyer.  II.  K.  Ilulburd.  Mrs.  S.  R.  Pennoyer,  and 
E.  \\  .  Hulburd.  Justin  was  controlled  by  spirit  Thomas  Paine, 
who  gave  a  lecture  on  "The  Ideality  of  Life."  During  the  lecture 
he  predicted  that  within  fifteen  years  a  woman  would  invent  a 
watch  that  would  run  so  accurately  that  it  would  never  varv  a 
hair's  breadth.  The  lecture  was  grand,  and  for  nearly  an  hour 
chained  the  attention  of  his  hearers.  After  the  lecture  he  gave 
a  short  .beautiful  poem,  which  he  said  was  dictated  by  Miss 
Reeves,  one  of  the  band. 

Justin  was  one  dav  going  home  from  the  postoffice  in  Yine- 
land,  X.  I.,  when  he  met  Mrs.  Phoebe  Cowles  and  a  ladv  iriend. 


498        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

a  Mrs.  Everett  Johnson,  whom  she  introduced  to  Justin  as  a 
particular  friend.  While  conversing,  a  spirit  lady  showed  her- 
self to  Justin  and  said,  "Sister  Jennie,  my  arm  does  not  hurt  me 
in  spirit  life  as  it  did  when  in  the  body."  Mrs.  Johnson  said  that 
was  her  spirit  sister  who  passed  away  three  years  ago.  She  said 
one  day  in  New  York,  while  she  and  her  sister  were  coming  out 
of  Taylor's  store  on  Greenwich  street,  she  slipped  on  a  banana 
skin  and  fell,  breaking  her  arm.  After  returning  home  Mrs. 
Johnson  wrote  Justin  saying  that  that  test  had  led  her  to  in- 
vestigate Spiritualism,  and  she  had  found  it  to  be  a  truth.  She 
was  then  attending  the  lectures  of  Nellie  Brigham  at  the  Spirit- 
ualist Church. 

In  April,  1882,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Harry  Lee  in  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  Mr.  Lee  and  Justin  were  having  a  social  chat,  when 
Justin  was  controlled  by  a  spirit  claiming  to  be  President  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  He  said  that  Gen.  Meade,  Gen.  \\arren,  and  Col. 
Campbell,  who  when  in  the  body  were  intimate  friends  of  Jus- 
tin, sent  regards,  and  wished  to  be  remembered  to  him.  He 
then  had  quite  a  lengthy  conversation  with  Mr.  Lee.  foretelling 
wars  that  were  coming,  in  which  this  nation  would  become  -in- 
volved. 

It  is  well  to  state  here  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Justin  were 
very  intimate  friends — as  will  appear  later  on  in  this  record  of 
his  life  work. 

Justin  and  his  foster  father,  Mr.  John  Puller  of  Yineland, 
X.  J.,  were  visiting  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Douglas,  in 
Millville,  X.  J.  \Yhile  they  were  at  dinner  Mr.  Douglas  said, 
''You  must  come  down  next  week  and  see  my  daughter  Lafina. 
She  is  coming  from  San  Francisco  to  make  mother  and  I  a  visit. 
Do  you  remember  that  when  she  was  about  fourteen,  I  was 
educating  her  for  the  stage,  but  when  she  was  seventeen  a  man 
thought  lie  needed  her  more  than  the  stage,  and  I  let  him  have 
her — now  she  is  Mrs.  Ashton."  Justin  said,  "She  stands  right 
here  now,  and  says  she  will  be  down  on  the  evening  train," 
upon  which  Mr.  Douglas  trembled  so  that  he  let  fall  a  glass 
which  he  was  holding,  and  it  was  broken  into  many  pieces,  and 
exclaimed.  "My  God — is  my  Phene  in  spirit  life?"  Mrs.  Doug- 
las then  said.  "Father,  I  had  a  dream  that  I  saw  her  in  the  cars, 
but  was  afraid  to  tell  you  for  fear  it  might  upset  you."  I  will 


MISCELLANY  499 

here  state  that  Mr.  Douglas  was  a  very  nervous  man.  Justin 
then  said,  "She  must  be  taking  a  nap  in  her  berth  in  the  sleep- 
ing car  and  her  spirit  came  here."  Mrs.  Douglas  asked  Justin 
to  remain  with  them  over  night,  as  she  feared  that  Mr.  Douglas 
might  have  one  of.  his  bad  turns,  and  he  consented. 

They  went  to  the  seven  o'clock  train  that  evening  and  their 
daughter  arrived,  which  so  affected  Mr.  Douglas  that  he  did 
have  a  bad  turn,  falling  on  the  car  steps.  They  got  him  into 
a  carriage,  with  his  wife  beside  him,  and  Mrs.  Ashton  and  Jus- 
tin in  the  back  seat :  the  floor  covered  with  packages  of  pur- 
chases she  had  made  in  Philadelphia  for  her  parents.  She  said, 
"Mamma,  didn't  you  get  the  telegram?"  Mrs.  Douglas  said 
they  had  not  received  any.  She  then  said,  "I  was  so  busy  with 
my  purchases  that  I  must  have  forgotten  it.  I  really  thought 
I  had  sent  one."  Mrs.  Douglas  said,  "Daughter,  why  is  it  you 
are  here  now,  as  you  said  in  your  letter  you  were  coming  next 
week?"  She  replied,  "Mr.  Ashton  got  a  pass  for  me  from  Oak- 
land to  Omaha,  and  I  came  immediately,  and  thought  how  I 
would  surprise  you  when  I  got  here."  Mrs.  Douglas  then  said, 
"There  was  something  peculiar  happened  at  our  home  today 
that  I  don't  understand,  daughter.  Justin  described  you,  and 
told  us  that  you  would  be  here  this  evening,  and  here  you  are." 
Mrs.  Ashton  exclaimed,  "Why  Justin,  you  must  be  a  medium." 
He  said,  "So  they  say."  She  said  she  was  taking  a  nap  in  the 
middle  of  the  day,  and  dreamed  she  was  there,  and  saw  them  at 
dinner.  She  saw  her  father's  hand  shaking,  and  saw  the  glass 
fall.  Mrs.  Douglas  said.  "Your  father's  hand  did  shake  and 
tremble,  and  the  glass  fell  and  broke  upon  the  floor.  It  is  the 
one  that  had  your  initials  on.  which  he  has  drunk  from  since 
you  went  from  home."  Mr.  Douglas  rallied  and  said  to  Justin, 
"It  is  well  you  were  not  born  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
as  you  would  have  been  -burned  for  a  witch."  This  led  the  fam- 
ily to  investigate  Spiritualism,  and  they  became  staunch  be- 
lievers. 

In  1882,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Spiritual  Society  on  Grand 
Avenue,  Kansas  City.  Mo..  Justin  spoke:  there  were  present  Mr. 
Black,  and  his  sister.  Mrs.  Ashton.  from  Chicago.  During  the 
lecture  Justin  stopped,  pointed  to  them  and  said.  "There  is  a 
ladv  standing  bv  vour  side — she  savs  she  is  votir  wife.  'Thev 


500        THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

call  me  Josie,  but  my  name  is  Josephine.'  "  She  then  showed 
one  foot  with  a  shoe  on,  and  the  other  without  any  shoe.  Mr. 
Black  said  that  was  his  wife,  but  he  could  not  understand  why 
she  showed  one  foot  with  a  shoe  on  and  one  without.  His  sister, 
Mrs.  Ashton,  then  said  she  understood  its  meaning.  She  had 
one  shoe  in  her  trunk,  and  her  sister  Elizabeth  in  Florida  had 
the  other. 

At  another  meeting  of  the  same  society,  when  Justin  was 
the  speaker,  there  was  present  Rev.  Dr.  Bowker,  of  the  Baptist 
church.  After  the  close  of  the  lecture  Rosa,  Justin's  Indian 
guide,  was  talking  to  the  audience,  when  Mr.  Bowker  inter- 
rupted her,  and  asked  why  he  did  not  get  something.  She  said, 
"Well,  preach  brave,  I  can't  bring  you  Jesus  Christ,  but  there  is 
a  little  squaw  papoose  sitting  on  your  lap — I  can  tell  you  all 
about  her."  She  then  described  the  spirit  child,  and  he  recog- 
nized it  as  his  little  daughter.  She  then  told  him  that  if  he  and 
his  family  would  sit  at  home  this  little  girl  would  come  to  them 
and  communicate.  They  did  so,  and  Mr.  Bowker  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  Spiritual  philosophy,  left  the  church,  and  became  a 
prominent  physician  of  Kansas  City. 

In  the  winter  or  spring  of  1883,  Prof.  Haus  of  Topeka,  Kan- 
sas, came  to  Kansas  City  on  business,  and  called  on  his  friend, 
Mrs.  H.  H.  Chamberlain,  who  had  for  a  time  been  a  member  of 
his  family  in  Topeka.  He  at  first  declined  an  invitation  to  lunch 
for  want  of  time,  as  he  wished  to  see  Justin  Hulburd,  who  lived 
on  Grand  Avenue.  Mrs.  Chamberlain  surprised  him  by  saying 
Justin  was  her  dearest  friend,  and  it  would  be  well  to  wait  until 
later  in  the  day  to  make  the  call,  and  she  would  go  with  him. 
He  then  concluded  to  take  a  later  train  home. 

After  a  five  o'clock  dinner  they  went  to  Justin's  home.  After 
a  time  of  social  converse  Justin  was  controlled  and  after  a 
prayer,  called  for  a  subject.  Soon  a  spirit  began  and  gave  a 
poem  delineating  the  life  of  Prof.  Haus  from  youth  to  that  time, 
then  the  spirit  said,  "Professor,  do  you  know  who  I  am?"  He 
said  he  did  not.  The  spirit  then  said,  "I  am  your  old  friend, 
Edgar  A.  Poe."  Prof.  Haus  said  he  thought  the  poem  was  in 
Poe's  style,  and  he  could  then  understand  how  the  spirit  could 
so  accurately  delineate  his  past  life.  The  Professor  returned 
home  bv  the  late  train,  and  soon  after  wrote  Mrs.  Chamberlain 


MISCELLANY  501 

and  Justin  a  long  letter  expressive  of  his  pleasure  and  great  sat- 
isfaction. 

In  May,  1883,  Mrs.  Henderson,  widow  of  Rev.  Henderson, 
whose  home  was  somewhere  in  eastern  Kansas,  called  on  Justin 
at  his  home,  1416  Grand  Avenue,  Kansas  City.  She  said  she 
saw  a  notice  of  him  in  a  Kansas  City  paper,  and  called  to  see 
him.  When  she  entered  the  room  where  Justin  was  conversing 
with  a  friend,  he  without  waiting  for  an  introduction,  rose  and 
said,  "Madam,  there  is  a  spirit  with  you  who  says  his  name  is 
Doctor  Morton."  She  trembled  so  that  Mr.  Meyer,  who  was 
present,  placed  a  chair  for  her,  into  which  she  fell,  and  burst 
into  tears,  and  held  her  hands  clasped  in  such  apparent  distress 
that  Justin  went  and  took  her  hand  and  inquired  as  to  the  cause 
of  her  distress.  She  said,  "Oh  dear,  dear,  that  was  the  best 
friend  we  had  in  the  world.  My  husband  and  he  were  college 
companions.  Somehow  I  offended  him  eight  years  ago,  and  he 
has  never  come  to  me  since.  He  used  to  guide  and  direct  us  in 
all  our. affairs.  Thank  God!  he  has  come  back."  She  then  of- 
fered a  prayer  of  thankfulness  to  God.  She  said  she  hoped  he 
would  stay  with  her. 

Mrs.  Henderson  was  a  medium,  and  Doctor  Morton  was 
her  guide,  but  when  she  offended  him  as  stated,  he  had  appar- 
ently abandoned  her.  She  then  stated  to  Justin  that  her  daugh- 
ter was  in  trouble,  and  asked  if  he  was  willing  she  should  bring 
her  next  day. 

The  next  morning  at  eight  o'clock  she  came  with  her 
daughter.  The  daughter  immediately  began  talking,  but  Justin 
promptly  checked  her,  saying  if  she  expected  to  get  anything, 
she  must  keep  quiet.  Mrs.  Henderson  then  told  the  daughter 
to  hand  him  that  letter,  which  she  did.  Justin  told  her  he  had 
no  faith  in  the  letter  business,  but  there  was  a  possibility  they 
might  show  him  something  clairvoyantly.  He  then  took  the 
letter  and  after  holding  it  a  few  minutes  he  seemed  to  be  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  He  described  a  man  to  her,  when  she  ex- 
claimed, "That  is  my  husband."  Justin  said.  "I  see  him  sur- 
rounded by  Indians,  and  they  are  dragging  him  away."  She  ex- 
claimed, "Oh,  my  God!  I  hope  they  are  not  going  to  kill  him." 
Her  mother  told  her  to  keep  quiet,  or  she  would  break  the  con- 
ditions. It  was  some  time  before  thev  could  show  him  anv- 


502         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

thing  more.  After  a  time  Justin  saw  the  man  escape  from  the 
Indians  by  rushing  down  a  steep  glen.  The  next  he  saw,  the 
man  was  on  the  cars  on  his  way  home,  and  a  voice  said,  "He 
will  be  home  in  about  two  days."  She  swooned  into  her  mother's 
arms.  Mrs.  Henderson  said,  "Tell  all  you  see.  We  will  see  it 
through.  Then  we  will  get  her  water."  The  voice  said,  "We 
have  sent  her  four  letters,  and  have  received  no  answer."  Mrs. 
Henderson  said,  "She  has  never  received  them."  The  evening 
of  the  second  day  the  husband  walked  into  his  home,  a  for- 
lorn looking  man.  The  next  morning,  having  expressed  a  wish 
to  see  Justin,  they  conducted  him  to  his  home.  He  confirmed 
all  that  Justin  had  told  his  wife,  and  said  his  letters  must  have 
been  intercepted.  He  investigated  the  matter  and  found  they 
had  been. 

In  November,  1883,  Mr.  E.  W.  Hulburd,  having  business  at 
Topeka,  Kansas,  invited  Justin  to  accompany  him.  Court  was 
in  session,  and  Mr.  J.  G.  Bunker,  a  venerable  Spiritualist,  and 
friend  of  Mr.  Hulburd  being  bailiff,  by  his  invitation  they  at- 
tended a  trial  then  in  progress  for  horse  stealing.  While  in 
court.  Mr.  Bunker  came  and  asked  Justin  if  he  saw  anything 
around  the  prisoner.  He  said,  "Yes,  I  see  his  spirit  wife;  she 
says  he  is  innocent,  and  is  having  his  life  sworn  away  by  per- 
jured witnesses,  and  wishes  Mr.  Bunker  to  try  and  help  him." 
That  evening  Mr.  Bunker  called  on  the  judge  and  told  him 
what  he  had  learned.  The  judge  was  so  impressed  that  next 
day  he  ordered  the  witnesses  recalled,  and  closely  cross-ex- 
amined them.  One  of  the  witnesses  broke  down  and  confessed 
that  he  and  another  witness  stole  the  horse.  The  prisoner  was 
released,  and  the  thieves  punished.  Thus  the  providential  visit 
of  Justin  saved  an  innocent  man  from  a  life-long  degradation. 

In  the  year  1869  Justin,  being  connected  with  the  Duprex 
Minstrel  and  Comedy  Company,  was  on  his  way  to  San  Fran- 
cisco. When  the  train  stopped  at  Green  River,  Wyoming,  he 
saw  a  number  of  Indians,  among  them  a  small  boy  about  ten 
years  of  age,  to  whom  he  gave  a  ham  sandwich.  The  boy  opened 
the  sandwich  and  threw  away  the  meat,  but  ate  the  bread  and 
a  cookie  that  Justin  also  gave  him. 

In  January,  1876,  Justin  was  playing  at  Hooley's  Theatre 
in  Chicago,  111.  One  Sunday  he  was  controlled  by  a  young 


MISCELLANY  503 

Indian,  who  told  Mr.  F.  I).  C.  Meyer  who  was  present,  that  his 
name  was  Juana.  and  that  Justin  gave  him  a  sandwich  and  a 
cookie  at  Green  River;  from  that  time  on  he  was  constantly  in 
his  thoughts.  1  Le  said  that  when  he  went  to  spirit  life  his 
thoughts  were  of  Justin,  as  he  was  attracted  to  him  from  the 
first,  therefore  he  came  directly  to  him.  He  told  Mr.  Meyer 
that  the  soldiers  stationed  at  the  post  at  Green  River  gave  him 
tobacco,  which  he  chewed,  and  also  gave  him  liquor  to  drink, 
both  of  which  made  him  sick.  Once  they  gave  him  enough  to 
make  him  drunk,  when  a  bad  spirit  got  control  of  him,  and  he 
found  some  matches  and  set  fire  to  some  hay,  which  communi- 
cated with  the  barracks  and  burned  them.  Mr.  Meyer  looked 
over  a  file  of  papers  and  found  an  account  of  the  burning  of 
the  barracks,  as  the  spirit  had  stated. 

Juana  remained  with  Justin  about  two  years.  lie  was  a 
very  mischievous  spirit,  in  fact  was  the  very  impersonation  of 
mischief,  causing  Justin  much  annoyance.  One  day  Justin  went 
into  the  "Hee  I  live"  store  to  purchase  some  gloves.  While  mak- 
ing the  selection,  boxes  would  be  thrown  down  from  the  shelves: 
uhen  the  saleswoman  would  replace  them  he  would  pull  others 
from  the  shelves.  This  continued  until  the  people  in  the  store 
began  staring  at  Justin  as  though  they  thought  he  was  some- 
thing uncanny,  and  he  left  the  store  to  avoid  trouble.  Mr.  Meyer 
was  with  him  at  the  time,  and  told  him  what  had  taken  place, 
lie  being  partially  entranced,  and  only  partially  aware  of  the 
tr<  mble. 

At  a  circle  one  night  Mr.  Morse,  who  was  present,  asked 
Juana  if  he  would  come  to  his  house  and  move  things  as  he  did 
at  Justin's.  lie  said.  "Yes.  me  come."  The  next  afternoon 
while  Justin  was  sleeping,  a  surprising  occurrence  took  place  at 
the  home  of  Mr.  Morse.  A  beautiful'bead  hanging  basket  which 
had  been  a  birthday  present  to  Mrs.  Morse  fell  to  the  floor. 
About  the  same  time  they  heard  the  cry  of  a  cat.  and  investi- 
gating, they  traced  it  to  the  stove,  and  upon  opening  the  door 
of  the  oven  they  found  a  favorite  cat  nearly  dead;  at  the  same 
time  they  heard  a  laugh  which  sounded  at  a  great  distance. 
That  afternoon  between  four  and  five  o'clock  he  controlled  lus- 
tin  and  told  Xancv,  the  housekeeper,  all  that  had  occurred  at 
the  Morse  home.  lie  said.  'Me  go  brave  Morse  wigwam,  and 


504         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

me  make  hell.  Me  take  em  down — make  em  on  the  ground." 
By  ground  he  meant  the  floor.  Nancy,  who  was  well  acquainted 
at  the  Morse  home  said,  "Juana,  did  you  throw  down  the  beau- 
tiful bead  basket?"  He  said,  "Ugh!  Me  make  em  on  the  ground. 
Me  hate  dam  cat.  Me  put  cat  in  the  box."  When  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Morse  came  to  a  circle  at  Justin's  that  evening  they  confirmed 
all  that  Juana  had  said  he  had  done.  Juana  said  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Morse,  ''How  you  like  em  ?  Me  make  em  on  the  ground." 

Justin  one  day  called  on  a  costumer  on  State  street.  \Yhile 
sitting  in  the  front  parlor  talking  with  the  costumer  one  of  the 
working  women  cried  out.  "Oh.  look  here  —  what  does  this 
mean?"  The  costumes  which  were  strung  on  a  line  were  being 
thrown  down,  and  as  fast  as  they  were  put  up  at  one  end  of  the 
line  they  were  thrown  down  from  the  other  end.  They  were  so 
frightened  that  they  cried  out  in  dismay  to  the  costumer  to 
come.  Justin  thought  it  time  to  leave,  which  he  did,  and  the 
trouble  immediately  ceased.  The  costumer  did  not  wish  Justin 
to  call  again.  It  is  well  to  state  here  that  the  costumer  had 
frequently  expressed  the  belief  that  all  spirits  that  manifested 
were  bad,  which  undoubtedly  caused  the  little  Indian  spirit  to 
annoy  him. 

Many  instances  of  a  like  nature  occurred  during  the  two 
years  Juana  remained  with  Justin,  causing  him  much  annoy- 
ance, and  it  was  a  great  relief  when  the  lovely  spirit  Rosa  came 
and  Juana  left,  but  before  dismissing  Juana  I  will  relate  one 
more  instance  which  came  near  causing  Justin  much  trouble. 

He  was  at  one  time  about  to  enter  a  street  car,  but  was  still 
on  the  pavement,  and  a  lady  preceded  him.  Suddenly  her  hat 
was  snatched  from  her  head.  She  turned  and  charged  him  with 
the  offense,  but  the  conductor  and  a  gentleman  who  was  about 
to  enter  the  car  testified  to  Justin's  innocence,  as  they  saw  the 
whole  thing,  and  he  did  not  touch  her  hat.  Juana  said  to  Justin, 
"Me  want  no  damn  squaw  to  go  before  you." 

On  another  occasion  Little  Justin  and  F.  D.  C.  Meyer  were 
on  their  way  to  the  home  of  a  Mr.  Thompson  to  make  a  social 
call.  Mr.  Meyer  asked  Juana  to  go  to  Mr.  Thompson's  and  see 
how  many  were  there.  They  had  gone  about  one  block  when 
he  returned  and  reported  seven  people  and  named  them  all  ex- 
cept one  lad}',  who  had  a  German  name  difficult  to  pronounce. 


MISCELLANY  505 

He  said  he  called  her  "Chain  squaw."  On  arrival  they  found 
he  had  reported  correctly.  Juana  would  often  control  Little 
Justin  in  the  street,  and  sing  songs  and  dance  a  war  dance,  much 
to  the  amusement  of  the  people,  but  much  to  the  mortification 
of  Justin.  He  was  very  profane,  much  to  Justin's  annoyance, 
as  he  never  used  profane  language. 

In  November,  1878,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Pierce  were  spending  a 
few  days  at  the  home  of  Justin  at  Yineland,  X.  I.  Mrs.  John- 
son and  another  lady  whose  name  is  forgotten,  called  to  spend 
the  evening.  Justin  \vas  controlled  by  a  spirit  who  claimed  to  be 
the  husband  of  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Pierce,  who  resided  in  Bidde- 
ford.  Maine.  It  said.  "Won't  Amanda  be  surprised  when  I  tell 
her  I  have  been  here."  Dr.  Pierce  said,  "How  is  that?  Are  you 
a  spirit?  I  received  a  letter  from  you  only  two  days  ago,  con- 
taining a  check  for  $40."  It  said.  "Xo.  I  am  no  spirit."  Dr. 
Pierce  then  asked  about  the  family  and  told  his  wife  to  make  a 
note  of  this  interview.  The  spirit  then  told  of  the  cat  at  home 
having  seven  kittens.  The  company  laughed  and  he  reiterated 
the  statement.  He  also  said  his  horse  backed  off  the  bridge  and 
broke  one  of  its  legs  and  had  to  be  shot.  Mrs.  Pierce  wrote  to 
a  neighbor  of  this  man  for  information,  and  received  a  reply 
affirming  his  statement,  adding  when  the  horse  fell  from  the 
bridge  he  was  thrown,  his  head  striking  a  rock  and  killing  him. 
Two  weeks  afterward  Mrs.  Suydam  gave  a  reception.  This 
spirit  came  and  controlled  her  to  write.  It  said  now  he  knew 
he  was  a  spirit ;  that  when  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse  his 
mind  was  on  Dr.  Pierce,  wondering  if  he  had  received  that  check. 

During  the  summer  of  1885  Edwin  II.  Davis,  a  young  man 
whose  home  was  in  \\~illiamsburgh,  X.  Y.,  was  living  with  lus- 
tin  on  his  ranch  in  the  mountains  near  Descanso,  about  forty- 
two  miles  from  San  Diego.  California.  He  had  come  to  Cali- 
fornia in  search  of  health,  and  muling  the  mountain  climate  all 
that  he  desired,  he  decided  to  remain  with  Justin  an  indefinite 
time.  One  clay  while  they  were  in  the  house  Mr.  Davis  was 
writing  a  letter.  Justin  apparently  went  to  sleep,  but  in  fact 
wont  into  a  trance.  When  he  awoke  he  described  a  house  loca- 
ted on  a  private  street  in  some  city,  also  the  shade  trees  and 
surroundings.  He  went  into  the  basement,  looked  into  the  din- 
ing room,  then  went  up  through  the  house  to  the  front  parlor. 


506         THE  LIFE  OF  LITTLE  JUSTIN  HULBURD 

described  the  furniture,  then  went  into  the  back  parlor  and  des- 
cribed a  large  picture  hanging  on  the  wall,  and  a  bed.  Mr. 
Davis  said  he  recognized  the  place  as  his  home  in  Williams- 
burgh,  N.  Y.,  and  the  picture  as  that  of  his  sister,  which  he  said 
Justin  described  as  accurately  as  he  could  have  done,  but  there 
was  never  a  bed  in  the  back  parlor — that  was  wrong.  He  im- 
mediately wrote  to  his  mother,  who  replied  that  they  had  some 
visitors  and  they  had  put  a  bed  in  the  back  parlor  for  his  aunt. 
An  influence  came  a  day  or  two  afterward  and  gave  a  poem  for 
his  mother. 

Little  Justin  was  a  natural  musician,  with  a  remarkably  fine 
voice.  One  clay  a  lady  connected  with  the  National  Theatre  of 
New  York  City  happened  to  hear  him  sing,  and  arranged  to  have 
him  call  upon  her  the  next  day.  She  took  him  to  the  manager, 
who  was  charmed  with  his  singing,  and  immediately  engaged 
him.  As  his  age  was  not  quite  eleven  years,  his  pay  wras  to  be 
at  the  rate  of  six  dollars  per  week.  His  whole  soul  was  in  the 
profession  into  which  he  was  so  unexpectedly  thrown.  His  next 
engagement  was  at  the  Old  Bowery. 

After  a  few  years  he  became  connected  with  the  Buckley 
Serenaders,  and  for  nine  years  travelled  with  them  throughout 
Europe,  South  America,  and  the  AYest  Indies.  AYhile  in  Lon- 
don he  accompanied  Mrs.  Buckley  to  Buckingham  Palace  to 
visit  Queen  Yictoria,  and  while  there  sat  on  her  lap  and  sang 
"Kathleen  Mavourneen." 

After  leaving  the  Buckley  Serenaders  he  was  with  Madame 
Anna  Bishop  in  the  character  of  the  Page  in  "Lucretia  Borgia," 
singing  the  "Drinking  Song.'1 

Next  he  supported  Barry  Sullivan  at  the  AYinter  Garden 
in  New  York,  where  he  lost  his  singing  voice. 

lie  was  with  R.  M.  Hooley  oft  and  on  for  twelve  years,  and 
with  J.  H.  Haverly  two  years. 

He  was  from  then  on  connected  with  nearly  all  the  first- 
class  theatres  of  that  time.  Justin's  petite  form  disqualified  him 
from  taking  the  usual  male  characters  on  the  stage,  and  he 
therefore  became  an  impersonator  of  female  characters,  except 
when  the  play  required  a  youth  or  a  boy,  for  which  reason  he 
generally  lived  in  female  attire,  and  was  known  as  the  "Dash- 
ing Fannv  Blanchard." 


MISCELLANY  S07 

He  allowed  his  hair  to  grow  to  a  great  length,  four  and  one- 
half  feet,  and  as  his  height  was  only  five  feet,  it  was  looked 
upon  as  something  remarkable.  \Yhen  the  great  spectacular 
play,  "The  Black  Crook,"  was  produced  at  Xiblo's  Garden  in 
Xew  York,  he  was  billed  as  "Mazareah"  from  Naples,  a  pre- 
mier danseuse.  Many  people  are  yet  living  who  will  never  for- 
get the  magnificent  scene  where  he  appeared  as  the  \Yater 
Xymph  under  the  waterfall. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  1861  he  resumed 
his  proper  clothing,  in  which  he  ever  afterward  lived,  except 
on  the  stage  when  playing  a  female  character. 

In  1848  Col.  George  Warren  became  his  legal  guardian,  and 
he  called  him  "Papa  AYarren."  During  the  war  he  would  often 
visit  the  Colonel  at  his  regiment,  when  at  the  front,  carrying 
him  man}'  delicacies  not  to  be  had  from  his  commissary.  On 
such  visits  lie  frequently  met  General  Grant. 

During  nearly  four  years  of  the  war  Justin  carried  secret 
dispatches  to  President  Lincoln,  who  was  his  warm  personal 
friend,  having  free  entrance  to  the  White  House  at  all  times. 
The  dispatches  were  on  fine  tissue  paper,  and  were  rolled  into 
a  small  ball,  to  be  swallowed  if  necessary  to  prevent  capture  ; 
such  necessity,  however,  occurred  but  once. 

1  le  was  also  a  warm  personal  friend  of  General  Meade. 

\\  hen  visiting  Col.  Warren  at  the  front  he  would  fre- 
quently sing  for  the  troops,  and  was  known  to  them  as  "Little 
\\  arren."  It  was  supposed  that  lie  was  a  son  of  the  Colonel, 
•UK!  lie  became  very  popular  with  them,  YYhen  Col.  YYarren 
\vas  breveted  Urigadier  General,  and  placed  in  command  at 
Raleigh.  X.  C..  the  theatrical  company  with  which  Justin  was 
connected  was  engaged,  and  plavcd  there  for  several  months. 

He  was  tor  lour  years  with  Simmons  &  Slocum  at  the  Arch 
Street  Opera  1  louse.  Philadelphia. 

His  last  appearance  on  the  stage  was  at  the  1'roadway 
Theatre.  Xew  York,  under  the  management  of  Xeil  lirvant.  His 
health  giving  way.  he  was  unable  to  complete  his  engagement, 
and  retired  from  the  stage  in  December.  1877. 


Contents  of  Volume  III 


The  contents  of  Volume  III  of  the  Life  of  Little  Justin 
Hulburd  are  as  follows :- — 


Josephine  Drake 

Lucy  Carlton 

General   Longstreet 

William  Denton 

Charlotte  Cushman   (2) 

Edgar  A.  Poe — with  Poems 

Kate  Fox 

Margaret  Fox 

H.  M.  Higgins 

Helen  Bushyhead 

Bishop  Lee  (2) 

Rev.  Joseph  Taylor 

Poem 

Joseph  Jefferson  (2) 

William  Florence 

John  Mitchell 

Henry  Mitchell 

Robert  Melrdum 

Helen  Hulburd  Placide 

Poem 

Thomas  Gale  Forster 

Ella  Judson 

Aunt  Rachel  Xoones 

F.  K.  Hulburd 

George  Knight 

Rose  Conklin 


Poem 

Captain  Matt  Clary 
Communications    from     Forty- 
four  Ancient  Spirits 
Poem 
Miscellany 

Animal   Passions   and   Appe- 
tites After  Death 

Was     Abraham     Lincoln     a 
Spiritualist? 

Mary  C.  Morse  to  Her  Hus- 
band 

Aztecs 

R.  M.  Hooley  and  Others 

Spiritual  Cures 

Spirit   Manifestations 

Evidence    of   Spirit   Control 

Spirit  Journeys 

Where  is  Tom  Paine's  Soul? 

Fitch  Adams 

F.  K.  Hulburd 

Poem 

Warnings 

Lewis  Justin  Hulburd 

John   Grover 

Memorial  Address 


Which   will    soon   follow   Volume   Two. 


DC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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